A Dark Turn
by silverstorm700
Summary: There was a place he once called his club, his high school, his club mates. A Hachiman memory loss fic. Chapter 7 revised
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own oregairu or anything related, its characters and everything belong to wataru watari.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **A Perplexed awakening**

 **"** _You are despicable, Hikigaya-kun. How could you even presume that a girl like me would even bother to look at you?" It was an enraged voice of a girl._

 _"If you ignore and turn your back towards the world, and think that it won't stab you from behind, then you are a bigger idiot than I made you to be, Hikigaya!"It was a boy's voice and felt repulsive._

 _"Hikki? Why? Why can't you accept it?" A girl was crying._

 _"Onii-chan, why? Why only you?" it was another girl's voice between sniffles._

 _"Hikigaya. You really are a handful. I never thought that you would get caught up in such an intricate maze of emotions." a mature voice with a bit of concern._

 _"Don't try to ever get close to me again, Hikigaya-kun" The first voice again in the same flurry of rage._

 _A scream finally, "onniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-Channnnn" with a hint of sadness._

'What the hell?' was the first thought that came to my mind as I woke up in a panicked state but only in my mind. Somehow my body didn't react to the labyrinth of thoughts and emotions as I had experienced in my head. Those voices. They were gone now. I couldn't remember the voices anymore. Like a state of after-dream, the memories a bit hazy and then disappeared. I wonder what was all that about.

I closed my eyes once more, took a final breath of unknown relief , felt like a big burden was finally off my back. But that's weird. I never had that kind of burden which could be proportional to the relief I just felt. Opening my eyes, I tried to move my head to take in the surroundings. I was in a bed, in a room. To my left side was a window, curtains were closed. A vase of flowers was on the same side. Red and purple colors of flowers, couple of daisies and another kind of flowers were there. Purple. There was a single purple colored iris there. I wonder who put it there ?

With a bit of a head ache and drowsiness, I tried to sit up. As I did, I examined a couple of medical pipes, attached to my hand. Attached to a bottle of IV, the pipes were going straight into my nerves. Of course I can't see that as its dressed up. So, now I could get the full view of the room I was in. I deduced it was a hospital room. By the looks of it, it seemed to be a recovery room instead of a sick room. There were fruits and other eatables on my left side, on a table. There was one window, one door, and there were other medical instruments other than the IV bottle, and other bottle which I suppose must be containing glucose or such. Well it's understandable though. After what happened to me, I guess its not exactly that weird for me to land in such situation.

Of course, I would have hurt-, wait. I was not feeling any different. I tried moving my limbs, but they were functional and didn't seem to have any faults, after what happened to me, I was sure I had broken a limb or two. I held up the sheets, and what I saw astonished me, my legs were in prefect condition, my hands were uninjured, as if nothing ever happened to them. I was in a state of confusion, then sub-consciously as I was thinking, my hands went up to my head, and then I felt it. A roll of fabric was wound on my head, a bandage was there. It is not possible. I don't remember hitting my head, or is it because I hit my head that I don't remember it? It is a possibility though, but then why don't I remember hitting my head? I guess there has to be some connection. After all, the vast knowledge of manga and light novels have always suggested those things to be true. A sudden and unexpected impact on the head will cause a short time amnesia for the victim. In the midst of my confusion, I was feeling a little thirsty. Pushing everything to the back of my mind, I reached out to the covered glass of water and a jug besides it. I drank some water. The water tasted a little different, maybe it was due to the change in my habitat, but still it was a little different. Like a strong flavour was mixed in it. Just water from a different place, or was it flavoured?

As I was examining my surroundings and quenching my thirst, there was a movement at the door. After a second or so, the door opened, and a lady entered the room. As soon as she entered, she was a little surprised. Soon her surprise transformed into delight, and she started progressing towards me.

From her attire, I could tell that she was a nurse, which led me to believe she was a lady but coming close, i figured she was a girl. She was wearing the typical nurse outfit, but not the hat. Her height was same as mine if not less. She had brown hair with red shades. By the looks of her, she looked as a high school student. And a beautiful girl at that. She stopped near me, and began to check the IVs and other drugs' that were given to me. A while later she finally uttered something," Good afternoon, Hikigaya-san. My name is Takaharu Yumi. I am your nurse here, well I am not qualified for that but you can still call me your nurse".

What the Hell! She says she isn't qualified and still she is my nurse. What kind of hospital is this? Are the surroundings and decoration only taken care of here? What about selection of staff? I looked at her, she seemed startled by my gaze. I said to her

"Thank you, Takaharu-san, but could you please tell me which place is this? And no offense but why is an underqualified nurse taking care of me?"

She was taken aback by my question but hey it was reasonable.

" I am an INTERN here. you have no sense of respect, you say no offense but you clearly offended me there. My father is one of the doctor in this hospital. And coincidently you are his patient, I was lucky enough to get this opportunity to get a chance here, but the patients are too ungrateful. " She said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

" As for your first question-"

Just as I was about to know the mystery of this place, the door opened again. This time a girl with short hair appeared, her hair style reminded me of Komachi. She was saying something until her eyes fell on me. Her face was too much similar to Komachi too. Hey, a dopple ganger of my sister appeared before me, in my own hospital room, what are the odds? I chuckled inwardly at my thoughts.

The girl was frozen in the place. Her eyes slowly dampening. Her pupils now full of tears, just ready to burst, tears threatening to fall. She sprinted towards me, and just like that, she hugged me. Taking a hit on my stomach, I growled in pain. But before i could even make a sound, her weeping grew louder.

"ONII- CHAN, you are back. Komachi was worried to death about you. I thought I would never see you again. Komachi was so afraid. Komachi missed you very much. That goes really high on Komachi points and really low on ONI-Chan's".

My eyes widened. She is Komachi. But whats wrong. Why couldn't he recognize his own little sister? The same sister who he held dearly for as long as he lived. The only woman, other than his mom, to care about him. The answer was simple, this girl, she was older than the Komachi he knew.

I tried to stroke her head with my hand and calm her down.

"Ko-,Komachi, yes I am glad too, but you are holding your onii-chan too tight". Her embrace loosened a bit. After a minute or so, She got up, and I looked at her. She was really a mess. Her face was stained with tear drops, her hair were messy now.

Between her sniffles, she tried,

" Oni chan. Don't scare Komachi like that Nincompoop Hachiman". After a pause she said again," Whats wrong oni-chan? Why are you staring at me like that?"

I was less than worried about the insults she threw me. I turned my head towards the other member of this room. Takaharu-san has had turned her head, probably hiding her tears. Well this was a sibling reunion and that too a very emotional one. The next line was from Takaharu-san," Well whatever happened was a bit too much for Hikigaya-san too. It is no surprise that he is in amidst confusion and daze. Its a miracle he even survived." Then it was I who spoke,

"Yeah, I jumped before that car without thinking anything, well saving the dog was all in my mind back then. But what is bothering me right now is that, Komachi, I don't remember you being this old. You look like a high school girl, I remember you being in middle school back then. What is more confusing is that, I was sure my leg was Injured in that car accident, I don't remember my head being hit. Do you know anything about these things? WHatever logic I am applying doesn't seem to fit here." Both of the girls' eyes widened, and an expression of awe and horror materialised on Komachi's face. She looked incredibly terrified now. In a state of confusion, I turned to Takaharu san, while she was shocked too, she was desperately trying to smile," What are you saying Hikigaya-san?You had no-"

"YUMI SAN" A loud scream was heard from Komachi. " Can you please come with me for just a minute Yumi-san? I need to talk to you about something." I was staring at their blanked expression for a while, when my eyes fell upon the calendar. The date was not really special, what's most intriguing was the year, it was 15 April 2016. The date was of 3 years from what i last remember of my life. I was just gonna start my first day of high school, when i was hit by a black limo. Then I am here, in a hospital, with a bit older Komachi. Is this a dream?

 **A/N: Hello everyone. This is silverstorm700. I am new to this fanfiction thing. This is my first fanfiction. And oregairu is my favourite anime. Well I just posted this story as a test for myself. My vocabulary and verbal skills are not very good, I don't know lot of words. By this I am trying to test my knowledge and improve my writing skill. This story is nothing special. I am a great Comic book fan, and comic book movies are my favourites. So this story is just a mixture of all the things I have watched and read. It even got some inpiration(polite word for copying) from other oregairu fics. Well, Reviews are appreciated, good and bad equally. ThanK you very much. I will post update in a week or so. Until then, see ya.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A Horrible Lie**

Expectations . The embodiment of expectations is ideality. Whatever ideal means it is perfect. It just is. When a person is given a job, he is expected to fulfill it, by a certain time, qualifying certain tests and keeping it at a certain limit. But obviously, nothing is ideal. Nothing is perfect. There are some limitations which could not be overcome. That can't be ignored. That can't be minimized no matter how expertly you execute a job. Judging a person's character is judging the person's ability to fulfill their expectation. You can write all the essays you want about discipline and good heart and what not about judging a character but you can't deny the fact that you judge them on the basis of they fulfilling your expectation.

I was expected to go to school that day. Well I expected that from myself. But a sudden error or wrong decision on my part led me to land here in this hospital. Yeah, wrong decision. I mean I did save that dog. But it wasn't worth it. I mean I hit my head. I recovered. But what if it was worse? What if I had epilepsy or other mental diseases? That definitely wasn't worth saving the dog. No matter what you say or do, you cannot care for another species when your own is in danger. Though I have recovered, but I don't know what I lost. The date just kept confusing me. I kept thinking about it for umpteenth time but still couldn't find my answer.

Komachi had taken the nurse with herself an hour ago. None of them had returned yet. I tried to get up and stroll a bit. But the medical pipes were attached to me. My maneuver was limited. I could not walk around. Being hospitalized, sucks. What am I saying? Getting an injury is the worst. Getting hit by a car, sucks. Ugh, it was tough for me to pass the Soubu High's entrance. Not knowing if I can enter now or not is the worst. Actually, the only reason I was aiming for Soubu High because none of my middle school classmates were attending it. So, if I enter any high school now, I won't meet any of my previous classmates. Where was I? Yeah, getting up.

As I was gathering my dark and depressing thoughts, the door opened. The nurse entered. What was her name again? Yeah, Takaharu Yumi-san, she was back. Komachi was not there. Wow, I sure remembered her name pretty quickly. Even though I just heard it once. Ahhh. A strong headache just seared through me. The headache was so intense that I fell back on the bed. I heard the nurse calling out to me. I had closed my eyes. The pain was still there. It was horrible. Like a hundred needles were inside my skull and were jumping and piercing the insides. I heard the nurse. Takaharu- san was just near me. I felt a palm on my hand. She was trying to calm me down. After a while, the pain subsided. I was a little relieved. The pain was still there but it was a little bearable. After, I think a minute or so, the pain was completely gone. I felt a prickling sensation on my hand. Takaharu-san was injecting me. Although the process was over now, she was looking a little worried.

"Hikigaya-san. Can you hear me? Hikigaya-san". I heard her, but I was unable to respond. Not because it was painful or anything. Her face was close to me. I could smell her fragrance. It was a little flowery and sweet.

I tried to look down. I could see her merciful and blessed bosom, just in my line of sight. Close, too close. Inadvertantly, I felt my face heating up. Upon realizing this and knowing where I was looking, she jumped back. Putting her hands on her chest, she was red and said, "Pervert!".

I muttered a "Sorry" and started getting up.

"You are really disgusting Hikigaya-san. Do you treat every woman like that?"

Hey, I am a healthy teenage boy. These things are meant to happen.

" Sorry, but you were too close." Realization came over her. She blushed a little.

"I let it go this time but it won't happen next time".

It was a long time since I talked to a girl. A loner is not meant to be popular. Girls like men with handsome face, a good physique and a successful social life. I came in neither category. Normal teenage boys enjoy their youth, make promises with their friends to meet up even after school ended, even though they know that it won't happen. Where was I? Oh yeah. My headache.

"What happened to you so suddenly? I gave you some strong painkillers, but they too took some time for the pain to recede."

Yes, I didn't know that myself. The pain was abnormal. But I don't know what exactly had happened to my head.

"I don't know about it. It was spontaneous" I said.

She just nodded. She looked confused.

"Where is Komachi? Why is she not here?"There was a lot in my head. Why did Komachi just yell so suddenly? What was Takaharu-san trying to say?

"Your little sister will be here soon. She had some errands to run."

After a little pause and thinking a bit, she said again

"Sorry Hikigaya-san. I am new here. I was appointed as your nurse just two days ago. There was not much written about you on your file. That's why I was confused. I judged by your condition that you had some disease relating to cerebral activity."

That's right. My condition doesn't seem to be like after an accident. Much more the accident that I remember.

"What did Komachi tell you? She took you outside, right?"

"Yeah. That is-"

Before she could answer the door opened. Komachi entered.

"Onii-chan"

"Komachi. What happened to you? Why did you go so strangely?"I asked.

"Sorry Onii-chan. But your memory was what startled me. I thought you remembered everything. That was what I thought first. But you forgot everything. You hit your head in that accident. Your bodily injuries healed but your head was in the critical condition. It was horrible. Mom and Dad are here. They are just talking to the doctor. They will be here shortly."

Why did my memory startle her?

"Did something happen, Komachi? Was that calender true? Did I lose my memory of these 3 years?"

Komachi was a bit hesitant. She looked down and with sad eyes and voice she spoke,

"Onii-chan. You... You were in a coma. For 3 years. You were asleep. The doctors said that you remembered what happened to you but you didn't. That was what surprised me."

I didn't believe it. That one act of kindness cost me 3 years. I was baffled by that statement. For 3 years I was asleep. It was impossible. I heard that coma patients were able to be conscious of their surroundings. But I was not. It felt like it happened all just yesterday. Was Komachi lying? No. She is my sister. She couldn't do that. It's not possible.

"You are lying Komachi. I was... It couldn't be. Coma patients are able to retain their memories. They are conscious of their surroundings."

I was... Wait, I never had any connection to anyone during my past life. Much less I was interested in remembering any of them. So that matter was of no concern to me. Hah. Take that, losers who enjoy youth. They end up getting acquainted too much with the people around, and when an incident like this happened, they end up hurting people.

Still 3 years of my life, was a bit much.

"That's what I and the doctors thought. But it was not the case with you. I didn't tell you that because of one more reason." Komachi stated.

"I am sorry Komachi. I can't imagine how much I had worried you and mom. Dad must also have been sad. But its okay now. I didn't know anyone else much. So the effect of my condition on other people must be equal to nil."

Takaharu-san was looking at me with hurtful eyes. She was sad. She was pitying on me.

"Miss Takaharu. Don't look at me with such eyes. I don't like being pitied upon. I said I am fine" I said sternly.

She was terrified by that. She took a step back. I saw a tear rolling through her eye.

The door was opened once again. This time two middle aged persons entered. A woman with glasses in an office suit. A man with a hair style little similar to mine in formals. My mom and dad were there.

Mom saw me and soon she started weeping. Mom ran over to me and hugged me. She was embracing my head. I could feel her bosom. My face reddened up a bit.

Now I am not a mom con but it's still embarrassing for a high school boy to be hugged by his mother. But it was reasonable. She had seen her son after such a long time.

" Hachiman, You are awake. I had nearly lost all hope of seeing you again. But thank God, you are awake."

"Mom, you are too close."

"Shut up". She said quietly while crying at the same time.

I saw my dad. He was making a relieved face. He was not crying.

"You made us worry a lot, boy. We don't want to experience such thing again. It was hell."

Takaharu- san had already left the room. Komachi was looking down. Mom soon unwrapped me from her embrace. She was wiping her tears. Dad was looking content.

"Onii-chan. I said something else too. There was another reason, I didn't tell you."Komachi said.

I listened to her. Nothing could surprise me now. It was over.

"After your accident, we moved to Tokyo. I am attending high school here. The facilities were more here for your treatment. Mom and Dad also got transferred here."

I was a little baffled after hearing it. I left my hometown.

"Wow. It's too much to take in all at once. I could understand why you didn't tell me before."

Komachi was surprised again.

"Onii-chan. You are okay with that. I thought you would be surprised even more."

"Surprisingly, my little sister, the first shock was big enough for me, so the effect was not much from second shock."

My mom and dad looked at each other a little awkwardly. Then they looked at Komachi a little hesitantly. She also looked at them. Then she nodded at them.

"Onii-chan. Your accident was taken into consideration by Soubu High. They were affiliated to the Tokyo Gakuen High school here. So you will be attending the high school here. I am also enrolled in that school only."

Well its more okay. Now my school problems are over. Those students from my middle school won't be here. Not anymore.

"That's a good thing." I smirked inwardly.

Komachi had a little hurt in her eyes. I knew my sister too well. I could read her like a book. She was hiding something. Something. I felt the same thing from my parents too. But its okay, whatever they were hiding, I can trust them, after all they are my family. The strangers closest to me.

 **Hello Guys, Silverstorm here. I didn't expect such a response from you people. Thank you very much. Well, I don't know about this chapter but here it is. When I said last time that this story was nothing special, it meant it is gonna use a lot of cliche plots. Which are too overused. But this story is a little different though. I am not very sure, if you will like it in the end though. I am sorry if the Hachiman is too ooc. But here is the chapter. I don't know when i will update next. But if you don't like the chapter and don't want it to continue. Just review about it. I will stop. Again, reviews are appreciated. Good and bad both equally. I assume, the next chapter will be from different pov. But I can't just tell it. It depends on my mood. Whether I want to disclose the life before or not.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **What he forgot was forgotten**

Just a few hours earlier from the revelation

Takaharu Heichi was a doctor of a prominent status. His skills and knowledge in medical techniques were not much renowned, but his work in the field of cognitive reconditioning caught the attention of many esteemed professionals in the ministry of health and thus he is where he is now.

After his honorable congregation from the hands of Health Minister himself, Takaharu sensei was moving forward on his research of neurobiology and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. He wasn't looking for making any breakthrough. He just hoped to find the cure for the cerebral disorders which haunt many people. Brain is the vital part of one's existence. Rather, brain is what makes up a person who he is. He believed in the mind's power over the body.

All summed up. His life was going pretty well. Yes correct. Was. What happened? A special research facility was set up. This was formed outside the norms of Health Ministry. The facility seemingly operated under government. But it's funding and resources were off the books of any government finances. The aim of this research facility was, as he was told, to carry out treatments on incurable diseases. From the field of neurology, he was chosen. Or so he was told. Everytime he was invited there, he was occupied with a different case. A procedure that used unknown sedatives and medicines was performed. No case ended successfully. Death was the only thing he saw there. He tried to test the materials and medicines' samples he used, but to no avail. He could not identify the compounds used in them. They were phantasm.

Soon the facility was shut down. But even though, every now and then, patients like the ones he operated on, were sent to him for the Procedure along with the mysterious medicines. Almost every operation was unsuccessful. He never stopped doing it, because of his curiosity. He could never find live research human test subjects. No subject survived, until now.

The parents of the young boy, Hikigaya Hachiman, were sitting before the doctor. A girl was also present. That boy's little sister.

"You,... you are the guardians of Hikigaya-kun, right?" Takaharu san enquired.

"We are his parents." The father replied."Is there something you need from us? We are very grateful for what you have done." He said showing some gratitude on his part.

"No, it's not why I had called you here. You don't need to do anything. The treatment was free of cost." Doctor said."But there's something I think your daughter here, wants to tell you."

All of them simultaneously moved their gazes to Komachi, who was sitting just besides her parents.

She nodded hesitantly to the doctor.

"Oni-chan woke up just some minutes ago. That's why I called both of you."

Hikigaya parents gazed at each other after hearing that with a hint of knowing.

"Komachi, you told us that on the telephone. That's why we came here, in a hurry. Is something the matter?" It was Mrs. Hikigaya who spoke.

"Mom. Its that, Oni-chan talked of an accident just after waking up. He said he went through an accident."

"Komachi, what accident? He didn't go through any accident." Her father spoke.

"Yes, Dad. He did not. But he spoke of that accident. He believes he went through an accident which led him to this state."

"What are you talking about? Komachi? We all know what happened to him. Why only he believes it was some accident?" Her mom was really worried. She was scared. Her eyes showed fatigue and endless nights of insomnia. It was unknown how many times she grieved and cried for her son.

"That accident really happened, Mom." Komachi was sniffling. Her voice nearly breaking."Three years ago. His first day of high school. He... He." Komachi was crying relentlessly. She brought a handkerchief to her face and wiped her tears and continued."He was in a car accident. Remember? He forgot everything of the past 3 years."

Her parents were dumbfounded. Her father put his arm around her mother, trying to calm her down. Her mom just looked at her, she didn't know what to say, what to do. Memory loss? Is it possible in such cases?

"Doctor , but memory loss? Such cases don't involve memory loss. This is so unbecoming."Mr. Hikigaya said.

Takaharu san listened to him. After some contemplation, he answered,

"I know, Mr. Hikigaya, This shouldn't have happened!"

'Yes this shouldn't have happened. The only outcome would have been death. Memory loss. This is crazy.' The doctor thought inwardly.

"After she told me about Hikigaya-Kun's state, I re-examined his x-ray reports. I was missing the most minute detail." He stopped and from below his desk, he brought up a file. They were Hikigaya's x-rays.

"Let me put it in a simple state. I did what I could to cure your son. I succeeded but there were repercussions. I didn't take this in account." The doctor said.

"Our brain has unique centres for memory. The cerebral cortex has an area called as the temporal lobe. It helps in long term memory. In accidents or other stuff, or even the most dangerous situation, the temporal lobe is either damaged, which leads to a memory loss or amnesia, or destroyed, which certainly leads to mental disorders or ultimately death. But in Hikigaya-Kun's case, when we treated him, we operated in this area only. I don't know how it happened but, with his recovery, his neurons in that area also "recovered". Technically this is wrong for me to say, but somehow, that area is reset to the point of time, 3 years ago."

Hearing this, Hikigaya's parents were confused, Komachi didn't understand any of it.

"What do you want to say, doctor?" Mrs. Hikigaya asked.

"The thing is, your son's memory can never return. It's over. He had forgotten what happened in those 3 years. Everything. His mental condition and brain capability is of like what he was just before this, but his memory itself is erased, forever. I am sorry."

The shock wasn't too great for the parents. They had just gotten their son back. Even if he didn't remember it, they could just tell him what happened. They were happy to get their son back. Even though he doesn't remember the past 3 years, he is still their son.

One who was in great shock was Komachi. She knew exactly what happened to him. During these 3 years, the people he met, the things happened to him. She knew it all too well. That's why, she said what she said.

"Is it necessary to tell him everything?" She asked the doctor.

"I know it's too much for him to know. But I am not the one to tell him these things. You three, as his family, are the ones who are responsible to tell him these things."

"I don't mean that" She said. This caught the attention of her mom.

"What are you saying Komachi? Your brother lost his memory, it is us who should tell him about it."

"Mom, Oni-chan won't remember any of it. What's the point of telling him all this? He ain't gonna remember anything."

"That's true, Komachi. But what do you want to do then? Your brother deserves to know what happened to him."( **A/N:So do the readers).**

"Yes, but he will have to do everything again, his school, his life, everything will be repeated. So what is the point of telling him and making him regret all of the years he lost."

'And also the things he will be better off without.' Komachi thought this inwardly.

At this, Mrs. Hikigaya was a bit annoyed. She didn't understand what her daughter was thinking.

"Komachi" She said sternly. "Come clear to me about what you really want to say or do."

Komachi looked back to the doctor then shifted her gaze to her parents again.

"Mom. If we tell him that nothing happened during these years, and he didn't lose anything. He will be in peace."

"And how are you going to do that? He will be terrified by his 3 years of memory absence."

"We will just tell him he was just there in a suspended state. He remembers the accident. He will believe if he is told that he was in coma or something"

At this point, her mother's anger was at peak. She yelled at Komachi.

"KOMACHI. HOW DARE YOU DENY YOUR ELDER BROTHER OF HIS MEMORY. IT'S HIS DECISION. NOT YOURS. SO KEEP QUIET."

But Komachi was not going to listen. She replied back,"Mom, Onii chan already suffered enough. During these three years, you never knew what was going on with his life. I just want to take this chance of saving him, I won't get it a second time. If it's related to my brother's sufferings and well being, then I will gladly take the responsibility of being my brother's nemesis."

Komachi was literally pleading now," So please, MOM. Just this once. Trust me."

Her mother's thoughts were in disarray. She was feeling guilty. It is true that she neglected her son for these years. So she was also not worthy enough to make his decision. Let it go now. She is her daughter and he is her son. No harm will come anyway. Whatever happened cannot be changed. He won't remember anything anyway.

"Ok Komachi. If you think this is in your brother's best interests, then we will go along with you. And you will have to break it to him, why we are in Tokyo. I won't come in your way. I don't know much about his high school life anyway." Mrs. Hikigaya was hurt. Accepting it was more depressing than knowing it.

"So, have you people decided now? What you will do from here is your choice. Good luck."The doctor was the tension breaker.

'I don't know what is going to happen. Hikigaya-kun, I wish you best luck for your life. I don't think you need to know more about your present brain condition.' The doctor thought inwardly. He was somewhat not feeling good by what he was doing.

Present Time

Hachiman POV

Oh this new place isn't half bad. Just like my old one. A little decorative for my taste. Well it sure is an upgrade. I was released just an hour ago. They sure let me go easy. It doesn't matter. I was in the hospital for 3 years. A change of scenery is good for me. Atleast that is what I thought.

The same day at late night.

After having my dinner, I went straight to my bed. I am going to start the school tomorrow. This is going well. I am not sure what I exactly missed during these 3 years but for some reason, it doesn't feel that I was in a coma for 3 years. The window was just besides my bed. The city lights were shining brightly making the darkness silently sparkling. It was beautiful. That was not when I realized, it was a little later.

The colors, they were bright. Even in a good distance, I could tell it. I could tell them apart. Their combination was perfect, and I was perfectly able to calculate the distance of its sources from there. A while later, I heard voices, voices of people, animals, nocturnal birds. I was hearing it clearly. Like they were just outside the window, but I looked outside, there was nothing. Some distance away, was an owl, whose cry I was able to hear. I was afraid, terrified. It is not possible for anyone to experience these things. I was feeling miserable like the whole surrounding was collapsing. There was no existence of anything. Just plain silence.

I was conscious now. I saw the clock. 30 minutes have passed. What the hell? It was just hallucination, I thought. I took my medicines and then, I went to sleep. There was nothing unusual now.

Back in the Takaharu Household

Yumi was running. She was in haste. Her face carried an expression of horror and disbelief. She had to find her father. It was necessary.

In the living room, her father was sitting, watching TV. He had one hell of a day. That last patient's discharge was disturbing but also relieving to him.

"Father." His daughter's voice pierced his ears. She was in a hurry. She was panting.

"What happened, Yumi? What is the rush?" He paused a bit and then a small smirk adorned his face, "Hmm, Did you have a quarrel with your boyfriend? Come on, Papa is here to talk."

"I don't have a boyfriend. What are you even talking about? This is no time for joke. Dad" She was angry, "You told them everything right? I have been studying neurology for half my current life. I know about your research papers. Everything I understand. I studied Hikigaya-kun's file just now. His brain patterns, they are unusual."

"You have quite a talent, my girl. I never thought you would be this much of a genius." He was looking down, guiltily. He should have been happy for his daughter that she is talented. But his guilt weighed him down.

"Dad, his sensory inputs are enhanced right. His brain capability isn't right. It is much elevated to an inhuman level. Its an abomination. What did you do?" She was asking him in a terrified expression.

" There is no need for you to know that Yumi. Its none of your concern. The case is closed."He said in a stern voice.

"You know his conditions can drive him slowly to insanity. Its too dangerous. He can even kill himself. Too much sensory input is dangerous, he can't survive it. There's no way. Did you tell them this? Dad, please answer me." She spoke frantically.

"I didn't, my girl. They knew the risks of the procedure before they agreed for it. It will do them no good if their hope is lost just after being given to them." Takaharu san said. He never liked this. To be faced with this situation. His own daughter looking at him like he was a criminal.

"His cortex had developed much sophistication after the Procedure. By outside, the change isn't visible enough. His brain activity and patterns will seem normal, but in the inside, he isn't normal. Now, we can only hope for his survival.

Yumi couldn't believe it. But what's done was done. They just got some hope. He was suffering from brain tumor. The last stage. He would not survive that is what the tests said. But this "Procedure" changed it all. The tumor disintegrated, taking with it the 3 years of his memory, the part of his cortex that was infected. He was renewed, but there was something else going on inside him. She didn't say anything anymore. And just left for her room. Hikigaya san, I pray for your safety, she muttered. She went and closed all her files on his case, creating a backup of these files, she went to sleep.

 **A/N: I am sorry for the delay. Like I said previously, this story, some of you won't like it. How this ends. But his illness's origin will be explained. It isn't something random. I already warned you that this will use overused cliche plots. And for the reviewers, I would like to say, I know it says romance in the genre, I am changing it. There will be romance. But not n the current story. I will post another story, A sequel. After the completion. So sorry to disappoint you.**

 **I am not an expert in biology. Those terms I used are not accurate at all. I am far away from a medical student. If any of you are doctor aspirants, please don't get offended. See ya. Bye**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **His second first day of high school**

Repetition. The act of repeating one thing more than once. Well that sounds kind of boring, doesn't it? Even if someone is forced to do something they like again and again, they gradually start hating that thing. Just like when you program your favorite song as the alarm tone on your phone and when it repeatedly rings, you hate it and you start hating that song. That seems contradictive, doesn't it? There is a reason you like something, but when you do it again and again, you despise it. But some people like repeating things, when they want to avoid something else. Such people just waste others time and their own also, because they don't want to perform certain tasks.

I am repeating my first day of high school. That seems absurd. Others are like, 'What? You can't repeat your first day of High School, at any circumstances it's not going to be your second first day of school.' Second first day of school? Man this is complicated.

Anyway, I am going to this Tokyo Gakuen High School. In the brochure it said lots and lots of things about the school. Just like Soubu High. I sometimes imagine how my life in Soubu would have been like? I would have at least one or two friends, the teacher would be an aged, beautiful, single, sadist, punching me in the gut-, what am I saying? My visualizations are getting out of control. Calm down Hachiman. I am sure there is a rule in High School against violence.

Anyway, did I mention that my cute little sister is in the same school? Apparently she is a second year, meaning my senior. My little sister is my senior. That means I am a dumb student who repeated his class many times. That would be a normal inference. Yeah, I got to work on hiding the fact of I related to Komachi from the school for my own image and hers.

It is really nice to just keep on your monologue. No need to hear the voices of the outside world, people that I clearly find irritating. What people do I find irritating? Let's see, cheerful, nice, kind, sad, silent, awkward, friendly... basically anyone who isn't me, my sister or my family.

Currently, I am having my breakfast. I finish it and set out for school. I was a little excited for school when I realized, same thing happened last time too. I was excited, and we all know how that ended. You people know it, right? I was in a coma for 3 years. You know right? Or are you people hiding something?

I am riding my bicycle. The streets here are unknown to me. That is why I set out an hour early from the required time. I have the address of the school along with a map. I stop my bicycle at the road side and take out the paper from my pocket. Why am I not with my sister? How could I hide the fact of her being my sister then? If I would have asked her, she wouldn't have come with me an hour early.

What the shit? What kind of map is this? This is a messed up location. Who drew it? That brat. If she wasn't my little sister and cute, I would have abandoned her in a long dark alley with killer dogs. Stop getting so violent Hachiman. Let's see, the only other way is to ask people. Well I can try to find by GPS, but unfortunately I know none of the land marks here. Asking people is the last and equally worst option. As people I approach are suspicious of me and then ask, why do someone like you need an address? You go to a school? Are creeps even accepted in school? Yeah you all can just all go to a pit, fire it up and jump in the burning land, and finally die.

I was searching for the street, when suddenly I made a blind turn, and crashed with another person passing the same turn. Yeah, I can't really avoid accidents, whether it may be three years ago or now. Gods of roman- No not this time. Gods of accidents, you really don't like my good life. You all can just go and drop dead somewhere, considering even gods die.

I examined the other person who is kissing mother earth like me. It was a girl.

"What the hell? Who is riding bicycle with their eyes closed?" It was a girl. A girl with blonde hair and princess ringlets hair style. She was wearing a loose pink top, with white jeans. Green eyes with fury directed right towards me. This is complicated now.

"Are you blind or something? Can't you like, use your eyes while riding a bicycle?" I was scared and a little nervous. I spoke in a hurry," Wait. I- I was just searching for my school. I mean, I am, how should I say it?"

"Huh? What are you saying? You are not making any sense."

She came towards me, and stopped in front of me. I also stood up. Her angry expression that was directed towards me disappeared after seeing my face. She was surprised would be an understatement. She was more, like, confused and startled at the same time.

"Hi-Hiko. What are you doing here?"She said.

Who the hell is Hikio? Did she mistake me for someone else?

"Excuse me?" I said, clearly not knowing what she was babbling about.

"Oi, Hikio. How dare you treat me like a stranger? I get that you didn't socialize much and were creepy as hell, but you should at least recognize me." She said with an enraged expression.

I was confused, nervous and scared. She clearly mistook me for someone else. Or did I forget her? Was she somehow in my middle school? Wait, let me count the girls I know. A girl who rejected me, a girl who was disgusted of me, a girl who despised me, a girl who wanted to be my friend, a girl who called me criminal. Wait my mind, there was no girl who called me a criminal, and sure as hell no girl who wanted to be my friend. I must be imagining things. This long and indelible life of a loner that I had lived sure makes me remember depressing things.

"Why are you spacing out? Creep!" I heard her say.

"There is no relation between I being creepy and I spacing out" I said.

"Huh? That makes like zero sense. You aren't even declining the creep part."

I don't remember this girl. On the other side, she is really attractive. She is even cuter than Orimoto. A depressing flashback- No. Focus on the situation at hand. Wait, if I don't know her, and she somehow thinks I am this Hikio person, then this works in my favor. I will just pretend to be him, or else she will drag me to cops for just hitting her. Her personality makes it pretty obvious, she can do that. A dominant and fiery personality.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it. Are you ok?" She was taken by surprise and then looked down for a minute, then again making the same angry expression but this time less harsh, she said,

"Well, if you apologize then it's okay. But you will have to make it up for this accident. Let's go."

I was frightened," Wait, I apologized, no need to call the cops here."

"I am not calling the cops, stupid. You have to give me a treat. Let's go to the coffee shop I just saw just a few blocks away."

I have some time to spare since I set out early. If she is cool with it then no problem. I will just have to pretend a little longer. I was following her, because I was unfamiliar with this area.

"Why are you in Tokyo anyway, Hikio? I never saw you in graduation ceremony. Where were you? And what is with this High School uniform. Don't tell me you didn't graduate." She asked while thinking deeply and chuckling at the end.

But, this is a complicated situation now. I don't know her. But it seems that the person she assumed I was had already graduated, and they met each other at different place. So she must be from another place too. Normally people would answer it straightforward but I don't have such answer so the best way to tackle it is,

"Why are you in Tokyo then?" She was taken aback by my question. She hesitated but answered.

" W-why, it- it's none of your concern." She was looking towards the ground, her eyes were drowned in a sea of sadness. Something must have happened. But still, I don't care.

"Then my situation is also none of your concern."I answered.

She looked at me, and then turned her gaze to my opposite direction. The rest of the walk to the coffee shop was silent. When we reached there, we placed our orders, got our coffee and sat on one of the chairs.

"You still didn't tell me about the high school uniform. You already completed your high school, right?" She asked.

"Well, it's complicated, a friend of mine asked for my help for a play. So."

"I didn't know you had friends, Hikio."She said.

Wow, that Hikio and I must be quite similar. Both of us didn't have friends.

"Did you talk to her? Yui, I mean. What happened really took a toll on her. You were absent for so many days, even in graduation ceremony she didn't find you, we were told that you had taken your degree already."

What to say now? I don't know, so I just remained silent. I didn't know this Yui person. This plan shouldn't backfire on me. I was still silent.

" Well, it's okay now but you should probably talk to her." She said and continued," Let's change the topic now, that phase is over, we shouldn't let depression take over us."

"Ok" was all I could say. We finished our coffee, and then got out of the shop.

" Hikio, give me your phone."

"Why?" I asked.

"Just hand it over."

"Okay."

I don't know why she asked me for phone. But there was nothing worth hiding, so it doesn't matter. She slid her thumbs here and there on my phone and then gave it back to me.

"Well Hikio, if you are living in Tokyo, then I think we should keep in touch." She gave me a small smile, and started walking away before muttering a "Bye" to me.

I have a girl's number on my phone. My past self would have squealed in happiness if he would've known this, but not this me. She just mistook me for someone else, that's why she gave her number to me. I proceeded to delete the number. But the same time I received a text. It said,' Delete this number and I will delete your existence.'

.

.

.

It is not doing me any harm anyway. I am not scared or anything. I checked the time, still half an hour was remaining. Oh well, I should get going now.

After asking a few people and hearing their offending talk about me, I finally reached the school. Most of the students were still on the front gate, going inside. It was a little early. I entered the school building and started walking towards the corridor. I was told to check in the staff office first. So I did.

I entered the room, and most of the cabin was empty. I went to what seemed to be one of the teachers, and asked him.

"Excuse me, I was told to check in the teacher's cabin after coming to school. I am new in the school." The man looked up from his work and stared at him. Then as if he realized something," You must be that comatose student we were told about. Yeah, your work is with the man sitting there." He pointed towards a man sitting at the corner of the room fiddling with his computer. I approached him.

"Excuse me." I said and before continuing, he spoke.

"Oh have you brought my coffee?"

"What?"I said, confused.

After seeing me carefully, he said," Sorry my bad. I just told someone to bring me a can of coffee."

He is a slave driver and he makes his students run his errands. What kind of teacher is he? Upon further examination, I noticed he was wearing a lab coat and under he wore his typical formals. The guy was wearing glasses which made him look nerdy but he fairly had good facial characteristics, with short dark black hair. He must be in his early twenties. He was staring at me, and then spoke,

"You must be the new student who was in coma, right?" I just nodded at him.

"Well, it's not much of a welcoming feeling as it is two months past the start of the term." He said with a small smile on his face. He is irritating.

He got up from his seat and put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Hikigaya-kun, is it right?"

"Yes"

"I am Hamada Satoshi. There is nothing special about me though. I am in charge of you. Well, it isn't supposed to be like this. But I insisted." He said.

In charge? What is he saying?

"What do you mean, Hamada sensei?"

"Let's talk on the way. Follow me." He started walking towards the door. I did what he said.

I was following him. He had that smile on his face which was supposed to comfort me.

"I was transferred here about a year ago. I am also new to this place. When you applied to this school, considering your circumstances, I proposed the administration to give you a special class for some time, until you catch up with your years' classmates as you know we are already two months' past the term. There was objection to that until I said that I would take care of your classes. So here we are."

"Sensei, I wasn't told of this before coming here. Did the administration take this step without asking me?" I asked.

"You didn't like it, Hikigaya-kun?"

"I never said that." I said.

"Well, your sister told me some stuffs about you that you are cynical, pessimistic, loner, and a Hachiman. I didn't get the last part." She is sly. I can't imagine what more did she keep babbling about me.

I turned my head sideways not looking towards him. We soon reached a door, sensei slid the door open and entered the room. I still followed him.

The room was empty, a single chair was placed in the centre, other chairs were placed in the corner of the room.

"I will try to catch you up with the current term as soon as possible. Until then, this is your classroom. Well, there are some pros and cons, like you won't be spending time with others, but you will be able to spend some time in peace, also your sessions will be shorter than the others."

That's exactly what I needed, a loner life again. But being alone isn't so bad, especially when you are used to it for your whole life.

"Also, I have arranged a guide for you, who will make you familiar with the school. I will introduce you two after the school."

A few hours later.

Ugh, it's not as good as I thought. The teacher's whole attention is on me now, I can't sleep between classes now. But the bright side was that the session ended quite early, earlier than the normal classes.

Sensei, was sitting on one of the chairs now.

" Well, Hikigaya-kun. Today's class is over. We will continue it tomorrow."

After a while, the door slid open and another figure appeared. A girl.

"I am coming in."

She said and entered the room.

"Good afternoon Sensei. Why did you call me to such a disgusting room?"

She moved her gaze to me. She was stunning. She had long blonde hair. A mix of violet in her eyes and her features were amazing. Her voice was a little rough with much less kindness in her eyes.

"And who is this abnormal guy here? Poor soul, must have been quite a tragedy in his life to become physically disabled in such a way." She said in an irritating voice.

"It seems disgusting is your favorite word. No wonder you keep saying it again and again." I said.

"I also say 'creepy' many times." She is really getting on my nerves.

Sensei intervened, "Let's not step on the moment here. Hikigaya-kun. Meet your guide and mentor."

"I can see he really needs a mentor. He is abnormal it seems. Don't worry, you are in my hands now. I will make sure to ail whatever's wrong with you."She said with a smirk.

"Ohh. I also hope to fix your over confident personality miss." I retorted.

"Hayama Hiyori. From class 3-E. Senior to you by two years. So show some respect, Hikigaya. Hikigaya? You are Komachi-chan's brother. I can't imagine it. She is such a great person, and you on the other hand. It seems there are all kinds of people in this world." She said.

Sensei was the one who spoke,"Hikigaya-kun. You were enrolled in Soubu High before. If you had done your High School there, you would have met Hayama Hayato. Hiyori-san is his cousin. She will guide you from today."

She was smirking while looking at me.

"How do you know Komachi though?" I asked.

"Your sister is quite a girl. She is popular among her batch and I was her mentor for a while this year. Sensei said he would give me extra recommendations if I mentored you too. Well, this is my last year, so try not to be a burden on me."She spoke with an aura of dominance.

She doesn't mince her words at all. But keep downgrading me and you will suffer.

"Hayama's law firm is quite famous. You might have heard about it, Hikigaya-kun."

Yeah I did. I watch the news, every now and then, that name pops up in the news. Along with the Yukinoshitas. I wonder what's up with those families.

"Yeah, I heard about them. Every now and then whenever a scam happens, her family's name is at the front of the news. I can see why now, after I met her."I said.

"Now you listen, Hikigaya-" Sensei cut her off saying,

"Now, Now, Hayama-san, Don't get too angry about that, there is some truth in that though, your family's name does keep mentioning up again and again."

"OK. Sensei." She frowned.

"I forgot. Here, sensei." She tossed a can of coffee towards sensei."You told me to bring coffee for you after the school. Why did you tell me that at the start though?"She said.

"Did I tell you to bring it at the end? Oops." He smiled once again. I want to punch him.

"Well Hayama-san, you can go now." She bowed and left the room.

"Hikigaya-kun, you can go too, we will start tomorrow again, and Hayam-san will show you around, tell you about the clubs, the school and other things here."

"Ok. Thank you Sensei." I said and left.

I went towards the bike stand and left for my home. Today was a bit strange. I met two blondes today. Both of them were quite similar, but one was kind of sweet, other was downright irritating. I don't care whatever happens.

 **Same morning in Takaharu residence**

Yumi and her father were having their breakfast, when she spoke,

"Dad, I understood what you said last time but I want to ask something."

Dr. Takaharu wasn't comfortable with the topic but his daughter knew much about the case so he had no choice. He nodded.

"Dad, Hikigaya-san's recovery was strange, but why did he lose only 3 years of memory? What is the reason?" She enquired.

Yes that was strange I know.

"I know, Yumi. I also thought about it, I could get no explanation of it, what I could find was that that point of time must be related to the tumor's origin that accident somehow gave him the tumour."He said.

"That's absurd, father. He didn't have any injury during that accident 3 years ago. We had those reports. His head was untouched." She said.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, Yumi got up and attended the door. When she opened the door, she saw a man standing there. He had a strange scar running down his cheek up his jaw. The man entered directly inside, pushing Yumi.

"Doctor" He said with a little loud voice. The doctor appeared before him. Fear drenched on his face.

"Maseo-san" The doctor said.

"I want to hear about the last subject, what happened to him?" The man asked, identified as Maseo. He had a non changing expression on him. It was terrible. Yumi came from back and joined her father.

"What kind of manners were those?" She said. Maseo didn't look at her. He kept his gaze fixed on the doctor.

"He died. The guy named Hikigaya Hachiman had died. He didn't survive. If you want I even have his death certificate with me." Maseo stood there calmly.

"Well that's to be expected." He said.

"So you were the one who sent him here? What kind of research facility was that? What medicines were there?" It was Yumi this time, she was angry towards him for playing with human life.

"We are shutting down the program, Doctor. It's good the subject died. We were ordered to wipe out all the evidences." He said.

Dr. Takaharu was relieved. He could stand no more those monstrous experiments just for the sake of science.

"So doctor, say your goodbye."He said.

"What?" Just after the doctor said this, blood came gushing out of his chest. His eyes just remained open. His form was drifting into unconsciousness. He could hear the scream of his daughter.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDD" Yumi screamed. Pain, anger, fear all the emotions were overflowing inside her. She saw a silenced gun in Maseo's hands. That's why there was no noise.

She ran towards her father, trying to stop his bleeding, "Dad, Dad, look at me, Dad, you are going to be okay, please, don't leave me, Dad. Please" She was crying, she felt helpless, not being able to save her father. She desperately tried to catch his drifting form. But to no avail. She heard her father mumbling something.

"I...I am s..s..sorry, my daughter."He said, while his form going into the depths of darkness.

A second later, a bullet pierced Yumi's skull, through her eye. Squashing all organs and flesh inside her brain and eyes. She died instantly.

Maseo without even breaking a sweat washed his hand gun and went outside the door. The bodies of the daughter and father lying in their house in the lifeless state, bathed in their own pool of blood. Nobody thought that their end would be like this.

 **A/N:Sorry guy. This chapter was a little too late. I didn't get time to update it. I can promise you this though that the next chapter would get even more delayed. I am so sorry. Just with all the exams and all I couldn't get the time. I was not out of ideas, Just like I said, the whole story is planned. Sorry if some people didn't like the story. Whoever is sticking up with this story, thank you guys, and whoever is left, thanks for your support. Reviews are appreciated, good and bad equally. Again, so sorry for the delay. I already warned you about the story though.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Effects**

"No, Hikigaya-kun. There is nothing wrong with your cerebrum. I studied your reports and tests carefully. I can't find anything wrong with you." She said. Straightening and stroking her glasses over her nose, she said with much professionalism.

"Are you sure, Doctor? It's been very inconvenient for me these past few days." I asked in a voice full of worry.

"Yes, Hikigaya-kun" She said. After a pause, she continued, "On your last visit, you gave me your reports your previous surgeon gave you. The reports did show some impediments, but they are common in coma patients woken up after a long time. They should disappear after few weeks."She took off her glasses and started cleaning them.

She put her glasses on again. I was sitting on the chair. I was confused. Right opposite to me this neurosurgeon was sitting. She took the files on her table and started looking again. She looked like she knew everything what was written in there. I couldn't help but sit silent there.

After a while she looked up to me. Her expressions were showing negation. She said,

"No, what you told me doesn't fit, your symptoms. Can you please tell me in detail?"

I hesitated for some time, but I saw no other way. I can't do anything about it, that's why I decided consulting the neurosurgeon. No backing up now. If someone can help me, understand my problem, it's her. After recalling the confusing memories, I decided to tell her.

"About a week ago, I was reading a book. It was a textbook, nothing interesting for me. I was trying to study. I started at somewhere around 8:00 pm. I thought I will study for sometime then close it. I actually wanted to sleep early that night. I started reading it from the start. This was my misconception. I didn't know how much time passed but the next thing I know was Komachi, my little sister, was trying to wake me up by shaking me, like I was in a dream or I was unconscious. But then when I came to my senses, I saw her terrified expression. When I asked her what happened, she told me to see the time, which was something past 5. She said that I was reading the book for the whole time, not even flinching or blinking. I was horrified. It didn't feel like any time has passed. Not only that but I was also able to retain that knowledge. All the fatigue and tiredness of those hours came over me as soon as I regained my senses. I was feeling weak and my headache started, it was very terrible. But whenever I try to recall that knowledge my headache starts severely." I finished.

She was staring at me with her eyebrows pulled together. Her expression was that of confusion and concern. Nodding she replied,

"Is there anything else you want to tell? These symptoms are unusual even for me. I mean in my past 10 years of work experience I have never heard of such or-" She stopped suddenly. It seemed like she was recalling something.

Her hand went down the table and she picked up a book and kept it on the table. I don't know much about the book but the cover was plain. She was searching the book in a hurry. Turning the pages quite fast, she soon reached the end. Shaking her head in refusal and annoyance, she let out a deep sigh.

"Hikigaya-kun" She said. "I think it must be because of your coma".

"What?" I said.

"See, the thing is, your sleep, your coma was not for a short time. It was for 3 years. It is a long time. All this time your brain was not functioning, there was no input of your senses. No output was there. So, suddenly when you have woken up and went to live on your life, it is not possible for your body and mind to catch up with everything at once." She tried to tell, I was not getting what she was saying. Her words were foreign to me.

"Are there any other instances where you experienced same problems?" She asked.

I started," Yes there were. It was when I was observing an image that my eyesight was locked for unusual time, interpreting the minutiae and the detailing of that picture. When I was listening to a song or watching a video, my mind was blank and only focused on it. My sense of time was overwritten by my vision or hearing, or my focus."

With a knowing look, she started speaking, "I think it must be because your brain cannot keep up with your body now. What we call in simple language, is that your body and mind aren't in a perfect sync. That is why your senses are in disarray, your vision or hearing is overwriting your other senses, and your concentration is way too much on certain things. I have heard about this condition, but.."

She stopped, while looking at the desk and retaining a thoughtful pose. I was confused. She wasn't saying anything. I was getting curious. Why is she stopping at mid sentences? It is a very important matter for me. I spoke with fear imminent in my eyes.

"But what doctor?" I asked with slightly higher voice.

"Oh, huh" She was back from her thoughts. Feigning a smile of innocence, she spoke,

"I was just saying that, these symptoms aren't exactly seen in coma recovered patients, but it's not impossible. There are many mysteries of human brain medical science is yet to unravel."

I was not unhappy from her answer, but not delighted either. The doctor was herself saying with hesitation. She was not sure either.

"Why didn't you visit your previous neurosurgeon, Hikigaya-kun? It would have been easier to do that since he was familiar with your case." She said.

"I tried but the hospital hasn't been open since I decided to visit. Dr. Takaharu isn't picking my call lately even though he told me to contact him if I find any difficulties."

Her eyes widened after hearing me. Her face was covered in an expression of horror and sadness.

"Hikigaya-kun, did you mean Dr. Takaharu Heichi?" She asked.

"Yeah, I was talking about him only. You know him. It's great then, can you ask him about my condition? It can be a great help for me."I said.

Her eyes were now covered with her bangs of her dark raven colored hair, sadness creeping on her face. With a heavy voice, she said,

"Yes, I knew him. He was a renowned neurosurgeon and a sort of ideal for me. His works are very precise and up to the point. He guided me for some time and helped me for my research. I always looked up to him. He was excellent in his profession."

My eyes widened after hearing this. As fear started filling up my mind, I asked.

"You just said 'was'? What happened? Please tell me."

"Approximately 2 weeks ago, we received reportage. A fire erupted in Takaharu residence. The fire was started by some unknown means. Takaharu-san and his daughter, both were caught in the fire. They died, or so we were told." She said.

I was surprised, both of them died, and I didn't even know it. Takaharu-san and Yumi-san were both nice and concerned about me, and they died now. What could have happened? And that too just after my recovery. I didn't even get to express my gratitude for them.

"What do you mean? I can see you are not convinced with this whole thing, doctor. I can see it from your expressions that you doubt that that's what happened to them. Can you tell me?" I asked frantically.

She was startled by my question. I said it with a slightly louder voice. She was clearly not comfortable with this topic but she still decided to tell what was bothering her and also me.

"This isn't a place for me to say but their death was in itself a mystery, the fire markings in the house seemed absolutely forced and even their bodies were not given for their after death analysis to any of the doctors associated with them. Their death was not disclosed to the public and it seemed like the whole case was being forced shut by the PSIA itself. They didn't want to release anything, no facts, no news."She completed.

I was baffled by her statement. What exactly happened to them? What was more frightening to me was the fact that it happened just after my recovery. Was it somehow related? What happened to them, was it my fault? More importantly, how was it related to me? At this point of time, I do not believe in coincidence. Moreover, I already know but I never asked them. Komachi and the others, they have been hiding something from me, but I decided to trust them with that. At least this was sure that they won't harm me in any way. The coma condition and my loss of memory, were not normal. My conditions weren't normal. And among everything, this incident. What is happening?

As I was thinking, my eyes fell on my consultant. She was looking at me with doubtful eyes. She was unaware of my condition, and now she must have taken a hint while I was thinking. But still, I don't think she's trustworthy either.

"Hikigaya-kun, do you know something that you can share about this case?" She asked with a tone of curiosity.

I don't think it is a best idea to let her in on this situation. This has escalated too far from what I can initially comprehend. Imagining a death at this stage is too much to be a vague coincidence.

"I wanted to thank them properly for taking care of me, especially Yumi-san. She was kind to me during my awakening. Dr. Takaharu was also good towards me. I never got any chance to express my gratitude. I guess sometimes you have to live with regret for your whole life." I said to her in a sad tone taking care of not showing my confusion or knowing in any way.

Fortunately she bought me and sighed. She said,

"Listen, Hikigaya-kun, life is too short to live with regrets. There might be secrets out there, scary ones which are not meant to be found. It's because they are hidden that we live our life in peace. There is filth everywhere, our choice to see it or not defines our life. Being an idealist won't do much good, a realist will fall but darkness will engulf those who are too close or too far from it. Don't think about it anymore. Right now, we have to find a solution to your ailment." She put her hand on her chin and again made a thinking pose.

Yes, correct. It won't do much good. I am not an idealist, not even a realist. I am somewhere on the boundary trying to find my place. That is the reason I am a loner and others scorn me for being different. Because they want to live in a society where everyone belongs to their own category, in their very own different comfort zone. And someone who doesn't follow their accords, they treat them as an outcast. An awkward loser, they think of people like me. But in reality, they would see that the ugliness inside of them is far more insufferable than mine, their facade has so many dark spots in them and to hide that filth they wear more facades. This chain reaction twists their personality so much that they find themselves in a sea of lies, surrounded by those people of lies, now once again trying to find their place in their very own comfort zone.

Ahh, I must have drifted off in my thoughts.

"Hikigaya-kun, What happened? Were you spacing out on me?" She asked.

"AH no. It's just I was thinking about something. Nothing important, don't worry." I told her. Smiling, I will say creepily because I know how I look, I tried to convince her.

"Hikigaya-kun. Do you have interest in sports? Do you play anything outdoor?" She asked.

No I don't. Considering none of the games, except PSPs, can be played by single player, I don't play any. In my gym classes I was always left out because the other guys didn't want me to be with them. Even now, I am attending classes by myself, gym classes are exempted in account of my condition.

"No. I don't. Why?" I said.

"Well, in sports your mind and body tend to work together, so such physical exercise can solve your problem. Also when you get tired physically, you are deprived of oxygen prompting you to breathe heavily. This lack of oxygen affects your mind first and your brain's working become a little slower for the time being. So these lowered levels of your brain activities can help you understand your senses, if they are in disarray. It can make you work normally if you give it a try. So, soccer or something like that will be nice." She finished.

"Can you suggest something that can be played by myself and does not include other person?" I asked.

"Why? It will be fun playing with others and it will help you too." She said.

"I don't exactly fit in any team. After some time they will keep me out. I have bad experiences with the team." Really bad, so much that I don't remember last time I was a team player.

She pondered for a while.

"I can't see any single player game generating fatigue and consuming your mental strength. It is just my suggestion Hikigaya-kun. The decision is yours. What do you want to do exactly?" She said.

She sighed, "Very well then, Good luck. And yeah, I will also suggest meditation for you to help with concentration. I am sorry Hikigaya-kun. We can't do much with medicines for mind problems."

"I understand, thank you." I said and started to go back.

Taking my reports, I exited the cabin. Did I mention Komachi was also with me? She was waiting in the waiting room.

"Onii-chan." I heard her say while she was coming towards me. I looked at her.

"Komachi. I hope I didn't make you wait too long. But it was you who insisted on coming with me. So I won't apologize."

"Onii-chan, Komachi was worried sick for you. You should be delighted that your cute little sister accompanied you even after you being so gross. This sentence was very high on Komachi points. Right, Onii-chan?", She smiled her brilliant 1000 watt smile. So bright.

I turned my gaze sideways and said, "Yeah, yeah. You are the best little sister."

"SO, Onii-chan. What did the doctor say? Are you becoming a vampire?"She asked cutely. A nerve appeared on my head. She thinks I am becoming a vampire.

"My dear, Komachi-chan. Just because I was awake the whole night doesn't mean I am becoming a vampire. Where did you even get ideas like that? I told you already not to watch twilight." I said.

"Yes Oni-chan. I didn't watch." I sighed in relief. She continued, "I read the novels." I grunted.

"Whatever" I said." And I am ok", I said while moving forward," Just some concentration and physical training is necessary and I will be good as new."

She started walking towards me and said, "But Onii-chan, you were really weird and creepier than usual that time. Like a real zombie. It's not like you are less zombie-like usually but you know, this was like walking dead."

"Thank you for at least saying zombie-like and not real zombie. I am alive and if you continue saying sweet trash like that, I will eat you." I said in annoyance.

"Ew, onii-chan, really gross. Gross." She said in disgust and moved away. Yeah, good thinking. Now at least you will be distant from me and won't irritate me.

"Onii-chan. It's time for payment." She said.

"I already paid the doctor. No need for payments now." I said.

"Not that Onii-chan." She said. "In return for the services of your cute and caring little sister, it is common manners that you have to take her somewhere."

"Keep it as cheap as you can, I can't afford to lose my pocket money." I said in annoyance.

"Cheapskate Onii-chan. Fine, just take me out to eat. I want a burger." She said again smiling her cute smile. This should be illegal. Little sister's smile should be banned.

"Fine, fine, let's go." I said.

We exited the hospital and headed straight for food centre. Actually Komachi suggested the shop. We took our burgers and started eating.

"So,Oni-chan. What did the doctor say?"She asked.

"She just said that I need to play some sport to improve my condition."I said.

"Eh? How will that work? Will it slow down your zombification?" She said in a really cute voice which made it more annoying for me.

"You do know that this zombie is paying for this burger, right? And also there is no word like zombification. There are no zombies." I said with a smirk

She made a cute smile and tapped her head cutely and said "Tee hee." She pisses me off so much.

"But Oni-chan, the legend says that Hachiman Hikigaya cannot play any sports. He cannot socialize and can neither play in a team" She said innocently.

What am I now? Some kind of universal truth. Surely legend has much more important things to do than prognosticate about me. I ignored her and started focusing on my burger. I took a bite and started eating. This place is not so bad. The burger is delicious here.

"Surely legend has more important works to do, Komachi."I said.

"Like what?"

"Like planning the destruction of the world." I said with a grin.

"Uwah, your thoughts are more disgusting than you Onii-chan." She said and started eating quickly.

"Who brought the legend first anyway?" I said. Realizing there is no more point in arguing, I finished eating.

Both of us finished eating and began to leave. We reached home approximately 25 minutes later. This Saturday was a waste. It is 2 in the afternoon now. I was sitting on my bed fiddling with my phone searching the internet for any new events that had happened. Suddenly I got a call. I got to change this ringtone and moreover, why the hell did I get a call?

I saw the name. It was an already saved number. Miura Yumiko. Who is that? Oh wait, she is that girl from the first day of school. Should I cut it? No I have to clear the misunderstanding that happened last time. I picked up the call.

"Hello"

"Hikio, why did you take so much time to receive the call? Were you planning to end it?" I could feel her burning glare from the phone. I knew it. She is dangerous.

"No. I was actually a little busy."

"I get it. You are lying. Anyway, I didn't call for that. I wanted to talk to you. If you are not busy, Hikio, I would like to talk right now." She said with a serious voice.

I wanted to talk to her too in order to clear her misunderstanding that I am not the guy she thinks.

"Ok. I want to tell you something too."

"Great, I will message you the place. Thanks Hikio." With that she hung the call.

I got up and started to get ready. After some time, I got dressed and began to leave when I heard Komachi in the living room.

"Oni-chan, where are you going?"

"I am going to meet someone."

"Who?", She asked.

"Just a friend", I said.

"You're lying, Oni-chan. You haven't recovered from your state. Above all, you don't have any friend."

I sighed. She's asking way too many questions.

"What's the matter, Komachi?" I asked.

"Nothing, Oni-chan, it's just that Komachi is worried about you. After what happened to you, I am really scared." She said. Her voice was filled with concern. But I could not shake the feeling that she is trying to hide something.

"I met a girl on my first day of school. Actually I hit her with my bike and she seemed to have mistaken me for someone else. I pretended to be that person and now I am going to clear her misunderstanding. The girl's name is Miura Yumiko." I didn't miss it. Though it was for just a slight moment, I know I saw her flinch after hearing that name.

"Where are you going to meet her?" She asked feigning ignorance.

"A cafe at the main street", She looked down.

"Ok, Oni-chan. Good luck."

I had this sinking feeling that Komachi intended to ask me something else. Or she wanted to tell me something else. But I ignored and went to the designated place.

The cafe was nearby. It didn't take much time to reach there. I reached there on time. I saw her sitting on one of the cafe chairs. I went to her.

"Hello, Miura-san."

"Hikio. Thanks for meeting at such a short notice."

I took a seat opposite to her. I came here to clear the misunderstanding. But this certainly felt like a date. She was wearing a yellow casual top with dark blue jeans. It didn't seem like she was in any kind of hurry.

"Actually, Miura-san, I-"

"Sorry Hikio, I-" , She started but was silent. After a pause she said, "Please let me speak first."

I just nodded. And she started speaking.

"After our meeting last time, I called Yui and told her that you are in Tokyo. But she said that she had enough and did not want to meet you. I know our last year wasn't exactly as anyone of us expected but I still consider her as my friend. And I valued her. I just want to know Hikio. What exactly happened between you two? I don't want to ignore everything once again like I did last time with our group. This time I want to understand. Yui is important to me, so please tell me what happened." She finished.

I was baffled and at a loss of words. This is some serious matter. Something must have shaken her whole world. And here I was trying to pretend the person she knows just to avoid my problems. Her face showed clearly her sadness and helplessness to save her friend. What have I done? I should apologize to her quickly. I am ready to face the consequences.

I quickly bowed my head in an apologetic manner.

"Hikio. What are you doing?"

"I am sorry, Miura-san. That time when I hit you, I was scared of you and thought I could escape by pretending to be the person you knew." I was slowly rising my head up.

"I am not Hikio. My name is Hikigaya Hachiman. I don't know you. I know what I have done is wrong but still please forgive me."

Her eyes widened in disbelief and soon she started chuckling. After a while she stopped.

"Hikio. If you don't want to tell me, then don't. At least lie a little better. I know your name is Hikigaya Hachiman. You were gross but I do remember your name. Were you also one of them who thought I didn't care about anything?" She said with a voice full of sadness.

It was my turn now. I was looking at her in astonishment. It was not her who was wrong. It was me. She actually knew me. But I don't remember her. What is happening? Before I could think anything else, she sighed and started saying.

"Fine Hikio. Let's do it like this. You asked me last time why I was in Tokyo, I will tell you that but in turn you will have to tell me what happened between you and Yui." She said.

"But I don't know you. Neither do I know Yui. Please. You are not-" She cut me in mid sentence.

"Hikio. Trust me. Please. You thought I was some cruel type of girl. I am not. Give me a chance."

I didn't know what to say. What she was trying to say. What is happening here? Soon, she started speaking once again.

"I know you were absent for many days. You must have not known what happened. After first two or three days when you were absent, events that no one expected happened. Yukinoshita." She took a pause and continued. She didn't seem comfortable with it.

"Yukinoshita confessed to Hayat- Hayama-kun and Hayama-kun accepted. I was in distraught. I had spent my whole high school to get closer to him and he chose another girl just like that. The whole school was shocked by their step. They started dating. I could take no more and in desperation I confessed to him. And he." A single tear dropped from her eyes.

"He just gave me that smile which he gave everyone else. That fake smile." Her fists clenched. She must have really liked that person. Hayama. That Hayama? And Yukinoshita? I know only one Yukinoshita, that diet member.

"This was what that destroyed our group. Hayama-kun no longer used to hang out with us. We were being awkward with each other. When both of us were not there, the group tumbled and crashed down like a palace of cards. Tobe and the others didn't bother with one another. Ebina was the only one remaining because Yui also stopped hanging out with us. But I didn't know what happened to her. She always looked sad and never talked or shared anything with me. Yui once told me that you called our group, a group of fakers. That time I was so angry at you but now I know, you already saw what was about to happen, what was the result of our friendship. Iroha was the only one who tried to bring everything back together. She said once that you helped her in every problem, but now you were not coming and the service club was disbanded, she could no longer get your help. She was also broken by both Hayama-kun's confession and your absence. I never bothered that time thinking about you. But please, Hikio. Now I want to show that I really did care for her. That I was her friend and still am. So tell me Hikio. I want to understand her."She finished.

Till this time I was baffled. Tears were streaming down her eyes. Her eyes had become red. Her face looked hurt and showed nothing but pain. What was happening here? How was I involved?

Just as I was thinking about this, I heard someone calling me.

"Oni-chan." Komachi was standing right behind me. I turned my head towards her. She was looking at the floor. Her eyes were showing guilt. Komachi, why are you here? I was confused. Nothing was making sense for me now.

 **A/N: Hello guys. I am really sorry for the delay. I was busy with exams. But here's the next chapter. I am sorry. The last chapter was really rushed. I was not thinking much that time. I hope I have satisfied you with this chapter. Thank you for the reviews last time. I saw some criticism by guests in that. I appreciate it. That was the first time I got such criticism. Thank you for reading the fic. I am happy that even though some are not happy with the fic still they are curious enough to read it. So, My replies to some of the reviews.**

 **Thanks Omega Eleven. Your review was really detailed and I hope to improve myself. Thanks for reading.**

 **The guest complaining about the genre. Well, sorry about that. I don't know much about the genre. This is my first fanfic. I never said anything about 'I know what I am doing'. I just said that I have the whole story planned. Just the outline of it. Not the content. Sorry for causing you inconvenience.**

 **.zwei: Thanks for your correction. I wrote this fic primarily to improve my English. My first language is not English. So thanks for your review. It was helpful to me.**

 **Other reviews were also appreciated. And please do review on this chapter too. I like reading your reviews. Both good and bad. Thank you very much.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **The Truth**

It was evening now. I had come into this cafe about half an hour ago and now Komachi was also here, sitting next to me facing Miura-san, who held the same pained expression on her eyes, as she did before.

It startled me to think that Komachi had followed me here. When she called me after entering the cafe, she was wearing a guilty expression. Now she was just sitting there. She didn't say anything, neither did Miura. I didn't ask Komachi anything. I thought I would ask her in private, not with Miura here. The tension in the atmosphere was thick. But I was in a confused state. I have a lot of questions but I don't even know what those questions are. Komachi decided to speak and get rid of this uneasy air. But she did not speak to me.

"Miura-san, Can I please have a talk with you?"

"Komachi-san, Right?" Miura asked. "I am sorry but I didn't meet you since that camping trip during our second year, so I may be a little forgetful about you."

I never called Komachi by her name since she got here. This indicated that Komachi and Miura knew each other in the past. So, Miura was speaking the truth. I am this Hikio person. But, how? Why don't I remember anything? Was that coma condition a lie?

"Ok, but first let me finish what I came to ask your brother here." Miura said.

Komachi didn't say anything but just shifted her gaze away, not looking at either of us. She looked like she was in deep thought about something. I know what that something is. It must be the lie she told me. What really happened in these three years must have been burdening her, eating her from the inside. I never saw my sister in such a state. But somehow, instead of being angry at her for lying, I was feeling sorry and a little worried for her. After all, I am never used to such mature emotions coming from her. Soon after, it was Miura who started talking.

"Hikio", I moved my gaze towards her. She had stopped crying now and had calmed down a little. Not knowing the reasons behind her pain and suffering, I allowed her to continue.

"Yes. I am all ears." I said.

"After those things happened, we soon had our graduation ceremony. Yukinoshita, as you must have already guessed, was the valedictorian, followed by Hayama-kun, who was second in place. We got news that they are going to continue their further studies overseas. In the end, I could never verify if Hayama-kun's career path was what you told or not. I couldn't take it anymore, all the things that happened, they had made me hollow from inside. I decided to take a break and clear my mind as with this much tensed mind, I couldn't take a step for my life. If I had chosen a career path based on my decisions at that time, I would have ended up with regret. So, I am taking a yearlong gap and going to spend it here, with my aunt."

She stopped talking. I didn't know how to react considering I don't know her. Then she spoke again.

"When I found you here, I thought I can get answers for Yui. She is still in Chiba attending a university there. She managed to get into one. I presume she focused on her studies in the end. Hikio, now that you know this, I plead to you. Tell me what happened." She was speaking in a desperate tone.

I can't give her any answers. I don't remember any of that. The only person carrying answers here, for me and possibly Miura, was Komachi. I was looking at her with a curious face. Komachi, after hearing her story, I don't think it is wise for you to keep quiet anymore. If you thought and wanted for me to not know anything, I can understand, but it is too late now. After listening to her, I know that I wasn't in a coma for three years.

Komachi now moved her gaze at me and then she looked at Miura, who was still looking at me for answers. She clenched her fists and then took a deep breath. Her eyes changed from being confused to being determined. Taking a sip of water from her glass, she started to speak.

"I didn't expect for us to meet with someone from Oni-chan's previous school. I thought that maybe if I lied to him then I could save him from all the emotional pain he had experienced. I presume you know what happened with brother during his third year, right, Miura-san? That's why you can understand why I did what I did." She asked Miura.

Miura looked at me and then again at Komachi. She nodded, Komachi now turned her head towards me.

"Oni-chan. I think it is okay for me to tell you now about your condition." She said. Now turning towards Miura once again," But I apologize Miura-san, I may not have your answers. I am about to tell you why Oni-chan doesn't have either."

I was waiting for Komachi to speak, to give me answers about my past. I have been thinking about it for a long time since I woke up and today unexpectedly I would get those answers.

"Onii-chan, you suffered that accident as you have said after waking up. But you never suffered any head injuries. You attended Sobu high after that accident. During your third year, we came to know that you were suffering from a terminal disease. You had developed a tumor inside your brain. It was in its last stage."

As Komachi said that, both my eyes and Miura's widened. I could not believe it. I was suffering from such a horrifying disease. Miura was looking at me with a look of fear and surprise. I looked at Komachi in disbelief. Komachi continued.

"We had lost all hope of saving you. You were just days away from leaving us when the doctor told us about a certain Procedure which could save you. That it was still in research and no patient had survived it yet. He asked if we want to perform it on you but also said that the result would be certain death. So he gave us two options. Either we agree to the procedure and let you die untimely death or to let you die from brain tumor. Mom, Dad and I didn't agree to it. We didn't want to lose you further than what it was destined. But at that time, you were emotionally broken from inside and didn't think logically. You didn't even faze after hearing about your death. And you insisted on taking up the Procedure. You said that you had to die either way so there's no point in waiting. And thus, we came here to Tokyo for your treatment. We were worried and hurt just thinking about losing you, Oni-chan. Then finally it was the day to start the surgery. The surgery was horrifying. It went on for two weeks but then we saw the result. From their reaction, I could conclude that you were their first survivor ever. I don't know what happened with Yui-san. Oni-chan was much of a recluse back then and didn't share with me things that happened." She concluded.

What kind of procedure is that? I was startled that this much scary things happened with me. Miura-san was scared now. She didn't utter a word. If I were in her place, I would have reacted like that too. Komachi continued.

"But when you woke up Oni-chan, you didn't remember anything. We don't know why but you lost your memory from that point of time where you suffered the car accident. The doctor told us that your memory is now permanently gone. It can never be recovered. So I pleaded Mom and Dad to hide the truth from you and let you believe you were in coma for 3 years. I didn't want you to suffer that emotional pain once again. Mom and Dad agreed to it. It was not easy for me too but.."

Her pupils were filled with tears at that time. She was barely holding them back. Sniffles escaped from her voice when she was telling about it. This was not an easy decision for her. She tried to protect me. I am not angry at her. After all, the person who lived that life in Soubu High no longer defined me. He was a different person. I am not him. I have not lived that life. My reality right now is the one that Komachi told me. I could no longer remember that life. This meant that I don't know about anything that happened.

"Hikio, I- I am sorry, I didn't know." She was terrified by now. She looked like she had done a crime or something. Her eyes were starting to become moist once again. An expression of guilt appeared all over her face.

"I am sorry. I- I didn't know and still I said those things to you." She took a pause then turned her gaze down. She clenched her fists. Regret was written all over her face.

"So, in the end I am the terrible person everybody thought I was." She didn't even look at any of us. A smile filled with guilt dawned on her face. She muttered a "Sorry", left the bill and money on the table and left the cafe in a hurry.

I immediately regretted not stopping her. But realization came to me afterwards. Why did I want to stop her? What was I supposed to say? I am already bad at emotional talks. Then why did I have such a sudden urge to stop her. Hell, I didn't even know her correctly and still I wanted to tell her that it was OK. Was that what I really would have told her if I had stopped her? I don't know.

I didn't have much time to think about her, because Komachi was here with me. She was weeping silently. I was confused. What should I say to her now?

"Komachi" ,I started. But then the words denied coming out of my mouth. Probably because there were no words. There was no way for me to comfort her.

"Oni-chan. I.. I did it to protect you.", She said in between sniffles.

"I never wanted to see the person you have become before the surgery. Seeing you like that twisted my heart. Komachi was sad, very sad. She wanted for you to be the same cynical and pessimistic but a caring brother to me." She finally stopped.

Till now most of the people were staring at us. Hey, this is an emotional moment for us. You dogs of societies, let us have this moment. It's difficult you know.

I just placed my hand over her head and started speaking.

"Don't apologize, Komachi. If my memory loss was permanent then it was no use making me remember the things that I experienced. I don't have any memory of it. So it is easy for me to accept this lie you have told me. It's no short of truth to me. It is my new life. So, don't regret it, it's not your fault." I told her, thinking that it would calm her. I really wanted her to stop crying.

"But listen to me, Komachi. I have blinded my eyes doesn't mean the world I can't see is unable to see me too. I can't just ignore all the decisions I have made during that time. Some people know me. As much as I regret saying it, I miss my position as a loner. But you have said that there were more people involved in it. So, for their convenience, I must know the truth. Not now, but sometimes later, when you feel like it." I finished.

Komachi nodded. Her eyes had become red. The tears stained her dress and cheeks.

"There is something else I want to tell you, Onii-chan."Komachi said.

"Let's return, first", I paid the bill for me and Komachi. It was almost dark outside and Komachi and I went back to home.

The road was silent. Komachi didn't speak anything during our return. She was just walking and scared. What was she going to tell me about? What was the reason of her fear?

We reached our home about 15 minutes later. She still didn't say anything and went straight inside. I sat on the sofa in the living room.

That was a lot to take in. It was shocking for me to absorb this much at once. The terminal disease. The cure. The Procedure. The truth that Komachi has been hiding. But some other things that only I knew like the death of the doctor. The mere thought sent shivers through my body. It was really terrifying to think the doctor who treated me died mysteriously. I still don't know if it was related to me or not. I don't know any of the answers.

As I was thinking about these things, Komachi returned. She held some documents in her hand. She put it on the table before me. Opening and finding the specified one, she handed it to me.

"What is this, Komachi?" I asked.

"Just read." She said.

I started reading it. What was written in it shocked me. I can't believe what I was reading. This is impossible. Why was this document made?

"Komachi, what is the meaning of it?" I asked confused, now clearly blank about the situation.

"It's just as it is written. We made this document in those two weeks I told you about. With a heavy heart, we made this document. It just recalls me of those painful memories we have experienced. I hid this document from you. But just before they can be legally registered in our koseki, you woke up." She finished.

"But this doesn't make any sense," I said frantically. Komachi had a saddened expression on her. She didn't look at me directly.

"It says that I was-"

"Dead." Komachi first interrupted and then finished my sentence. She continued again.

"The first step of the surgery itself was accelerating your condition and killing you. They operated on your dead body for at least two weeks. Then when you were not waking up, we were told that you were dead. We were heartbroken. We thought that we lost you. The preparations for your burial were at the last stage, the document was ready to be legalized, that was when your pulse was detected, and suddenly all of your body functions were normal. And just after a day, you woke up. We were overjoyed by your recovery. We didn't even question what happened. We were just happy to get you back. And then we created that lie. I think you know the rest." She stopped and turned away from me. I heard a sigh from her.

But I was now terrified. If I was scared earlier, I am afraid now. Of what? I don't know. I have to understand it to know. My recovery was abnormal to such extent. What exactly did happen with me? I don't know a thing about that. Is it even possible? Can someone be raised back from dead? Oi, Oi. Seriously? This is weirdness taken to a whole new level. It's impossible. What am I afraid of now? My own body? Really? My life wasn't a manga or anime where dead can be resurrected. Hell, even mangas didn't do such things now a days. I don't feel anything different, apart from-.

"I will tell you Oni-chan, whenever I feel comfortable, what happened in your life in Soubu High. Thank you for your consideration for me. I am sorry for lying." Komachi said, turning and wiping her tears.

"It's okay, Komachi. I understand. I get your reason for lying. I won't force you to tell me things about my life. It is no longer my life but there is a responsibility attached to it that I can't outrun. That's why I need to learn what happened." I told Komachi with a comforting smile.

But inside me, there was a puzzle, a puzzle which was fitting together, piece by piece. There must be a connection with this "Procedure", Murder of Takaharus and the dilemma I am facing, this non synchronization of my senses. Is my condition even stable now? They said all my vitals were normal. But they don't even know about bringing people back from dead. Am I really normal?

There really isn't need to worry though. I can't do anything about it now. Those two are dead. No one has the answers. IF death really was in my destiny then so be it. I had not died then, I will die someday later. It doesn't make any difference. Komachi told me that I was a hopeless guy that time. I didn't even react to my death. I can make amends now. Not fearing the future and living my present, that is what I am going to do. My respect for my family has increased now. They had suffered because of me. I know it now, there are some who care for me. I won't let them down. I can do this perfectly by living a normal life. They want nothing more from me. Just my happiness is enough.

Pushing back all the thoughts to the back of my mind, I hugged Komachi. I held her very strongly.

"Oni-chan"

"I am sorry for worrying you and mom and dad. I won't let you down again, Komachi. Trust me. You need not worry about me anymore. Thank you." I said and released her. Wow, that was quite embarrassing. If this was any other situation, Komachi would have definitely thown comments like "Gross" and "Sis-con".

"Gross, Oni-chan. Sis-con" She said with a smile and wiped her face.

Oh well, she said it now too. That was low on Komachi points. You ruined my mood. But it's okay. That mood was depressing. Komachi really eases up the situation. That was it. I know what happened with me. It was not at all pleasing. I wish I never would've known but what's done is done. This chapter of my life is closed now. I have to focus on other things.

Komachi made her way to washroom. All this emotional conversation and those tears really messed her up. I made my way to my room. Even I went to washroom, it's not like I was anything better. I was a mess myself. I cleaned myself and then I lie on the bed.

The events that transpired today were eye opening. I checked on my phone to see any message from Miura. She really left depressed. I have to make sure that nothing was wrong between her and me. She was heartbroken and now self depreciating. I could tell from her eyes that she was not adept to handling such emotions.

Instead I found some mails, which I did not like to read. They harass me and give me nightmares. The most irritating person in the world who thinks of herself as a princess of some kind.

'As expected of Dokugaya-kun, your poisonous personality doesn't remind you of your duty to me'

What duty? You are my guide for just some days. I am not your servant.

'Hey reply. I need your help, Dokugaya. I need you at the community centre. You swore your loyalty to me, did you forget? I can't handle these students anymore.' The second text read.

Yeah, I remember, it's your duty to handle them. You were asked to assist the student council. Don't drag me with you. You even had the chance to refuse them but no, you have to help them. I didn't play any part in it. For God's grace, why did Sensei appoint you as my guide? If not for him, I would have never agreed to exchange my contact information with you.

'Are you intentionally ignoring my texts? Listen, Dokugaya, I will make you burn in the flames of hell.'

Like I care. I don't plan on meeting you anytime soon. I am not your butler who does your menial things. I still remember the day when I first helped her and she made me do all the manual labor, made me sit with her as a committee member and worst of all denied me to keep my opinion there. Remind me, why exactly did you make me sit with you? You are very much able to do all those things yourself. I quit. I resign. That sounded like I accepted that I was doing her job. No, I did not. Hayama Hiyori, you will pay for it.

Deleting all the messages and cursing the sender with my entire curse dictionary, I tried to find the book I used to write the names of people I would kill. My old one lost, so I made a new one with a cover saying death note. I am proud of myself. Ha HA-. Wait, that was creepy, Hachiman, even by your standards. I sent her a message myself,

"Go Kill Yourself."

With a devilish less creepy smile, I pushed the send button. Now, I had to-. I received a text instantly. Wow that was quick. How much do you use phone?

"Not before killing you" was the reply.

It was a first time in years I messaged a girl. Not counting those 3 blank years. And even in that text I wrote curses. Well, she deserves it. I am not a slave. She has her admirers in school. I heard she was confessed many times. Considering her looks and grades, and her almost royal family, she is popular. But I haven't seen her hanging with friends, or much less eating lunch with them. It was always I who had to accompany her. She is an irritating person. What was she like before I met her? Who cares? I regret having ever met her.

Again cursing and focusing on my tasks, wow, I sure lose focus quickly even though I have a problem of concentration. I messaged someone.

Yes, that someone was Miura Yumiko. I need to meet up with her and clear the things between us. She misunderstood some things. And whatever happened, she was blaming herself for it. Her past experiences must have been tough for her.

'I want to meet you at the same place tomorrow. Text me the time you are free.'

I got the reply almost immediately. God, girl's sure like their phones very much. How much time do they spend on it anyway? I don't know. If they had spent that much time in studying or doing something useful, Japan would've become a superpower by now. That's over-exaggerating but then they waste too much time.

'What is it that you want to say? No matter, 10:30. I will meet you there at this time.' Her text read.

There were no useless symbols in her text. I liked that. Usually girls, now a days, like a certain irritating blonde, scratch that, like Hayama bitch, use lots of useless symbols in their texts. I like clean messages, and not the ones that reek of social rituals.

That night I had my dinner early and went to sleep. It's been two days since I last had such abnormal concentration stroke. I was confused by my behavior. The pain in my head was too much to take. It hurts as if it is going to tear me apart. Doctor said that the accumulated fatigue must have cause the pain. But I don't believe it. Whatever it is, I hope it gets cured soon enough. This is interrupting my studies and everything else.

The next day.

I woke up at somewhere around 8'o clock, since it was Sunday and I didn't have much to do. I decided to oversleep a bit.

I got ready and soon I found myself in front of the cafe that we were going to meet. 15 minutes were remaining till our meeting. I got inside and saw that Miura was already sitting inside the cafe. I went to her and took a seat opposite to her.

"You are early", I said.

"Yeah well, so are you." She said and fidgeted in her seat. She was uncomfortable.

"Komachi told me that girls don't like waiting for boys." I said, clearing myself.

"I didn't know you care what I thought about you." She said. Now I was speechless. She caught me off guard. I didn't know why I said that.

"Yeah, what I want to talk about you is about yesterday. What happened there wasn't your fault. I thought you were blaming yourself for the situation there." I said.

"You are right. I am still blaming myself. It confirmed that I am the same heartless person towards others as you thought."

"I don't really remember anything about my previous life." Wow I sure sounded like I was reincarnated.

"Your sister tried to protect you from your disastrous past, and I came and ruined all her efforts. I am such a fool. Opening my mouth not thinking about the situation of others, I should have asked you before."She said.

"I never really knew about my own situation, so it would have been useless even if you had asked me." I said, trying to clear her misconception.

"That doesn't change the fact that I was insensitive." She said.

She is still not over it. She is blaming herself for the mistakes she didn't commit. She was already so broken and I don't want her to have more burdens because of me. I won't let her hurt herself because of me. No, that past doesn't define me anymore. I have started to hate those 3 years now. Due to that, my sister and this girl are suffering. What decisions I made, I can't believe they can ruin these people's lives. I won't ever become the person that I had become in the past.

"Listen Miura-san, it was yesterday that I found the truth about myself. I never knew that I have lived another life or that I knew you. You said I was absent and didn't interact much, so it's impossible for you to know about my condition. So just stop blaming yourself for anything that happened." I told her sternly.

She was surprised by my words. She put a small smile on her face and said,

"Really, Hikio. You are one of a kind. Thanks, it felt better."She said.

"I am happy to help. I am leaving that part of my life, Miura-san. It doesn't define me anymore."I told her.

She nodded. I continued.

"Forgive me for saying but ever since I met and observed you, I noticed something. Your attitude towards everyone, it's not the way you saw everyone else earlier. You changed yourself. Or rather, something changed you. Change is good, I agree but when you change yourself without having any essence of your past self, Miura-san,it breaks the heart of some people that care for you."

"Hikio. You are just like Yui told me. You see through people. I thought it was a load of bullshit but I was wrong. Thank you but it's something I have decided myself. This change you are talking about, it will take some time for me to get through it." She said. We never ordered anything and our conversation wasn't long.

I nodded and then began to get up when she stopped me.

"Hikio, wait."

I stopped and sat down again. What does she want now?

"You have anything else to say?" I asked.

"Hikio, I never bothered about you in school. I didn't know anything else besides your name. But now if it is a restart for both of us, I really want to know the person Yui admired. So, Hikio, I want to ask you."

She put a really bright smile on her face when she said it.

"Can we be friends?" She asked.

Whoa, this is happening so quickly. A girl like her wants to be my friends. What is this romcom like situation, but I know better. She doesn't want to repeat her mistakes, same as me. There is no ulterior motive of her in this. She just wants to know me and to be honest, she is an interesting girl. I think it's good to have one friend. That was what my motive was on the first day of school. She ain't even in my school.

"Okay, I guess."

"Thank you." She murmured. And then she got up and left.

Soon I reached home. Today was a good day. There was no way that the knowledge I gained yesterday won't affect me. It will surely. But I have to embrace it. If I was not meant to know it, then I wouldn't have ever. But situation demanded for something else. It wanted me to know the person I was. But till the time comes, I don't think my past will be of any use to me. I will wait for the time when my sister decides to tell me of it. Until then, I will live my life for my family.

That night I slept a little late. I had to finish some school work. Komachi was besides me all the time to avoid my sudden abnormal behavior. But it didn't come this time. I looked back and saw that she had fallen asleep herself. I woke her up and she wished me good night and went to her room. She was sleepy herself. I closed my book and kept it in its place and I went to sleep.

All of a sudden, I saw flashes of places, persons, different people. They were just flashes, I saw a dark black haired girl, a blonde haired boy, a man with a huge scar on his face at different instances. When the flashes went by I was in a place, it was dark, it seemed like a room, then suddenly a light shone before me, the bulb was above and just below it, I saw a man. He had a mask on him. The mask had red eyes, the mask covered his whole face, but I could see his dark blue hair.

But his appearance was not what was shocking. He was sitting there, on a body of a person. It seemed like a girl's body. The body's head was turned away from me. It wasn't moving. I noticed her hair, they were long, messed up and most importantly they were blonde in color. I soon realized, it was not a body but corpse of a girl. The masked man rose up and came towards me. I didn't think of anything when he came before me and stabbed me with a knife.

I woke up frantically. I was gasping and panting. Most importantly, I was scared. It was a horrible dream. I reached up to the glass of water that was kept just besides me and drank it completely. Taking in my thoughts again, I calmed myself down. What the hell was that? That is a really messed up dream. I don't know what's happening.

Not giving it much thought, I went to sleep again.

 **Hello, guys. What's up? I apologize for taking too much time but I was going through a weird sort of depression. So it took me time to write this chapter. So here it is. Please review, I like reading them. Good or bad. And thank you for your support. Silverstorm out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **The Problem**

"This assignment you've written is good enough, Hikigaya-kun", Sensei said to me. Hamada sensei was sitting right before me on his usual seat. He was turned towards me with his eyes on my assignment. He was still smiling that irritating smile. But I paid no attention to it.

"Yeah.", I replied.

"The pace we are going with is very good, you would soon catch up with your class and then no need for these sessions." He said. Putting my assignment paper on his desk, he turned away and started working on his laptop. What he was writing or doing, I didn't understand. But it didn't bother me in the least. It doesn't matter what he's doing. There were more important things that I need to pay attention to.

"Yeah.", I again replied.

"To be honest, I didn't think you would be this efficient in studies. From your marks in the middle school, I thought you would be an average student but your learning capacity is high. You have a bright future." He finished. Still working on his laptop, he was talking to me. I was still uninterested in his talks.

"Yeah", I replied again with the same indifferent voice.

He heard this and at that instant he stopped working. With a confused expression, he turned towards me.

"What's the matter, Hikigaya-kun? Are you not feeling well?" He asked.

Well, technically yes, but I didn't have any disease. There were a lot of things on my mind. I didn't know how to handle them. I couldn't stop thinking about them. After my visit to the neurosurgeon a week ago, I had this feeling for some time. I did everything she said. But somehow I didn't know what's happening to me.

"Nothing, Sensei. It's okay. I am fine." I said with a sigh. I was not sure if I should open up to him. So far I have known he was a teacher, he couldn't help me.

"Yeah, well. I understand Hikigaya-kun. But it's too late to hide."He said. After a pause he said again,

"Tell me. I might be able to help."

"No, Sensei. Don't bother about it. I am fine." I told him once again and possibly the last time. It's not his place to solve my grievances. I didn't want to cause any trouble for him.

"Alright, if you say so, Hikigaya-kun." He said with a surprise. He didn't expect me to be this stubborn I guess. He started closing his books. The session was over I think. He switched off his computer, picked up his things, packed his bag and stood up. With a smile, he said,

"Today's class is over, Hikigaya-kun. I am happy with your progress. It is better than I expected it to be. I will be taking my leave now." He waved his hand at me and began to leave. Reaching the door, he stopped. He turned towards me and said.

"I forgot. Hikigaya-kun, Hayama-san wanted your assistance on some work, so she asked me to inform you to meet her after class."

I sighed once again. Why couldn't she just leave me alone? She was supposed to guide me but now I know almost everything about the school. I didn't need her help. When would she stop bothering and bossing me around?

"Sensei, I think there is no longer any need of a mentor for me. Won't it be good if you relaxed her of her duty? It's been almost two months I have been in this school." I said in a pleading tone. I wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.

"I know. And she is no longer responsible for you, Hikigaya-kun. I told her already." After hearing this, I was pissed, like seriously pissed. Her role was over and still she was using me as her slave. I, the man who might be at the top of the laziness chart, was being driven as salve by an ungrateful bitch.

"I see. Then I don't have to listen to her anymore, right?" I asked.

"You don't have to. But it is different if you choose to." He said with that uncomfortable smile again. Seriously, doesn't his cheek hurt by smiling so much? Is his skin made of rubber or what? Even if it is, is the smile its natural position? With annoyance, I said,

"I don't see that happening Sensei. I will go meet her to tell her this. Where did she ask me to meet anyway?"

"Her class." He said and opened the door. He left the room. I, too, proceeded to take my bag and started leaving .She will no longer boss me around now. Her dominance over me has ended. I will gain my freedom once again and send the chains of slavery shattering outside the window. My country will be inde-. Wait a minute. I am not a freedom fighter. What am I even saying?

Soon, I reached her classroom. I was standing beside a wall, near her classroom, precisely to the left turn of the door, far from it though. Now, I am not a stalker and I have least interest in knowing where her classroom was. But I was with her the whole time I have been in this school. She kept dragging me everywhere. So, obviously she told me her classroom, with me having no interest in knowing it. This is the final stage, Hachiman. Stay strong. You have to fight for your free time.

There was still some time before her class was over. I decided to wait at that same spot. Soon, the teacher came out of her classroom. He eyed me and left without saying anything. I was staring at him the whole time. He looked rather young. What is wrong with this school? Is every teacher here this young? I thought more experienced people might be teaching here. Heh,what a waste!

Students were coming out one by one. Chatting, laughing and gossiping about irrelevant things. After a while, I saw Hayama coming out. Damn, even at this time of the day, her form doesn't look a bit less glorifying. She is really a royalty. Her blonde hair was flowing indiscriminately and she had an aura of superiority around her. Her face carried a firm expression. She still looked stunning. I examined her surroundings. Most of the students were staring at her. Some girls were talking with one another in a low voice but having their gazes fixed at her. The boys around were staring at her form with dreamy eyes. I already knew what kind of position she was carrying. She may be a beauty but inside she is more dangerous than a beast. I won't fall for her charms, not in a hundred years.

"Where are you staring at? I am right here." I heard her voice, when I was too busy examining the reactions of her classmates. After she spoke, everyone dissipated and started walking normally. I didn't move my gaze.

"Hey, now. Are you ignoring me? Listen, Hikigaya. Don't try to be smart with me." She said in an unpleasant tone. I sighed. Why did I have to do this again?

"Whatever". As she was speaking, a boy approached us. He was probably in Hayama's class as I saw him a few minutes ago after the class was over. He was looking everywhere but at us. Discomfort visible on his face.

"Hiyori-san." He said as he came and stopped before us. What does he want?

Hayama turned towards him and raised her eyebrows, her face carrying a stern expression.

"It's Hayama-san. What do you want?" Hayama spoke. She seemed already not wanting to give him any attention.

"Sorry, Hayama-san." He said and then eyed me. What the hell do you want? I don't care. Do anything. Just don't bother me. He turned towards her again and said,

"Can we talk somewhere in private?"

"Huh? Why?" She asked.

"I have to tell you something and I can't do it with your, um.. with him here." He said. I began to move. Clearly I don't want to have anything with both of them.

"No. Don't bother about him. His presence is of little significance to me. No one knows him, so you won't have any problem with him too. Now hurry, I have other matters to attend to." Like I said, no mincing of words at all. I was still trying to walk away when I heard her say.

"Where are you going, Hikigaya? Are you planning to escape from here? I don't trust you the least, so shut up and stand here." She turned towards the boy again," And you? Is it over? Or did you forget what were you telling me?" She said to him in an equally angry voice.

"No.. I uh... I... Hiyori-san, I like you a lot. Will you go out with me?" He said and was staring at Hayama after it.

She immediately answered, "Huh? For such pointless thing you wasted my time. No, and don't show your face to me ever again." She said and turned towards me," Let's go, Hikigaya. I will make you do extra work if you delay anymore."

I was looking at him in a shock. She is not even a least considerate about what she said. She took hold of my elbow and started dragging me with her. After a small distance, I immediately jerked my hand and made it free from her grip. God, her grip was strong.

"I can walk by myself", I said. She stopped and turned around facing me.

"Yeah, Last time I checked you were sucking on your shoes. Let's go. The student council president is so incompetent this year. He can't do a single thing himself." She said and started walking.

I, too, followed her. While following her, I tried to start a conversation.

"Then why did you even accept the job in the first place if it tires you so much?"

"Because I served as the president last year. It is my duty as a senior to guide him." She said with an attitude of superiority.

"Wait" I said. She stopped on her tracks. She faced me.

"What happened, Hikigaya?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk about that boy who confessed to you. Why didn't you reply to him courteously? You could have been less harsh."I said.

"Why do you care? It's not like you are his friend or something."

"No. I am just asking out of respect for his feelings."I said.

She sighed and said,

"I didn't know him neither did he, instead of asking me to be friends first he asked me out. He just wanted me as a show off. So that he could display me to school if I accepted." She finished.

"Ok. By the way, Hayama-san-".

"Hiyori-san" She said.

"What?" I asked.

"You can call me Hiyori or Hiyori-san." She said.

I was surprised and confused. But before I could say anything she explained.

"That guy was a stranger to me but you are not and I know you too. So you can call me by my name. It doesn't mean that we are friends okay?" She said giving me a dangerous stare. I gulped.

"Also" She fidgeted a little and said," Calling me by my family name makes me feel uncomfortable but I don't want everyone else to misunderstand, so I don't allow them for calling me by my first name." She said.

Oh, it looks like this is the first time she was open to anyone. She looks damn cute while blushing. It is of least matter to me. Whatever your name is, you can keep it with yourself but let me go. I am not going to get involved with you anymore.

"Yeah, Hayama-san." I said while emphasizing her surname which startled her.

I continued and said, "I talked to Sensei. He said that I no longer need anyone to guide me. So, this is our last meeting. Good bye."

As soon as I had finished saying, her eyes widened in disbelief. She was surprised by my statement but soon she recollected herself. With a calm voice, she started speaking.

"So after all you are an ungrateful animal. You forgot that I wasted so much of time on you and now you are leaving. I expected that much from you. But I never thought you to fall so low. You are pathetic." She said with a smirk.

Did you think you've won? Sorry but this emotional blackmail won't work on me. You don't know me, Hayama-san. I am a guy darker than you have ever met.

"Yeah. I am." I proceeded to leave. She was taken aback by my move. It seems she didn't take this in account. Bye bye. Hope I never see you again. I walked quite a distance when I heard her once again.

"Do you really want to go?" She asked.

"Yeah. I am pretty sure."I replied.

"You know many people saw me with you today. You understand my position, right? Students here respect me very much." She said once again while I was still walking. She turned around and I felt that she was smirking. I sensed she had something else planned.

"Yeah they do." I said. "What are you implying?"

"I know you are not going to tell anyone that you are Komachi's brother, in order to save her reputation in the school. But what about me? I can tell it to anyone I want and they will believe me too." She completed. Her smirk was still visible.

Nice move but no one knows me in this school so it doesn't matter even if they know about it.

"Ohh, do tell them." I said with a grin on my own face. I bet it must be creepy.

"But that's not the only thing I would tell. I will also tell your misdeeds. Like how you didn't return my kindness and some other false things." She said with a smirk.

What false things? Wait if she does that then my reputation will be doomed and then if she tells everyone about Komachi then even her school life will be difficult. No, she can't do that. I have no other way. I grunted and then glared at her.

"The choice is yours. Stick with me as long as I want or see your sister suffering." She is an extortionist. Ma'am I promise you will make a fine kidnapper.

"Wait, why are you dragging Komachi in this mess? This is between you and me." I asked with fear clear in my words.

"I didn't have to and I still don't if you'd just do what I say." She said. Her smirk was not leaving her face. She is pissing me off so much.

"Why me? There are other people who can do your work?"I asked. That is simple. She can find someone else to do her chores. And that guy or girl will be glad to do that too.

"You are the most viable option. You don't socialize so hanging out with friends is an option closed for you. Your study sessions are shorter than other people so you can do my job when I am attending classes. I can count more. Do you want me to continue?" She finished. When you look at it like that, such an ideal slave would be hard to find in this education society.

"Did you make Komachi work too when you were her mentor?" I asked. Did she bully my innocent little sister?

"Idiot. I said your sister was popular and I had to maintain my image too. If I made her work and then some inconvenient rumors spread about me, what would I have done? Obviously I didn't make her work. And at the start of the school, there weren't many events either." She said.

I kept thinking of more plans to escape but none was safe enough for Komachi. For God's sake, someone save me from this tyrant.

"Fine. What do we have to do?" I asked signaling my defeat. I got no other option. I will have to do it for Komachi's sake.

"Ok let's go. You have delayed me so much already. Do remember, you will have to pay for it." She said.

"Can I ask one more question?" I asked her.

"Now what?" She asked.

"You have lot of people here who admire you. You must be having friends too. Why don't you hang out with them or ask them for help?"I inquired.

By this question her reaction changed. I saw her eyes sink into sadness. Her bangs were now covering her eyes. She gritted her teeth and said something in a low voice. I couldn't hear her. So I went closer. I asked her.

"What?"

She soon held her head up and faced towards me. She was angry. Her eyes looked like she was furious. I never saw her more serious than this before. She looked furiously at me and said in an enraged tone.

"That's none of your business" She shouted.

I was startled. I think it was a very sensitive topic for her. Never had I seen anyone this angry before. I don't know what to say now. What should I do?

But luckily my grievances were heard. I saw someone approaching us again. Hayama was still staring at me with the same dangerous look. Hey cut it out. Now I was getting scared. What was wrong with her?

"Hayama-san" We both turned as we heard someone calling. It was a girl with short brown hair. She was of the same height as Hayama. Her looks were somewhat above average. She was coming towards us running and stopped before Hayama while panting at the same time. She caught her breath and started talking. There was a book in her hand which she held towards Hayama in a giving position.

"Here, Hiyori-chan. Your notes were really precise. It was a great help for me. Thank you." She said. Her face showed her cheerful nature. She had a smile on her and by looks I could tell she always kept it on her face. But nobody is perfect. I could see what she really wants.

"Katsumi-san." Hayama said reluctantly.

"Hiyori-chan. I wanted to thank you for your help. Will you please come with me? I will give you a treat at my favorite place." She said.

Hayama didn't say anything but looked away and her face showed hesitation. Was this girl bothering her? Why? What happened?

I noticed Hayama looking down and ignoring her. She was not replying at all. Was this girl her friend? If she was, what happened with them to make her behave so awkwardly? If she wasn't, then it was clear Hayama just wanted to get rid of her. No, but I know. I could see sadness in Hayama's eyes. Is it that or Hayama wants to be friends with her. This is complicated.

But, I think I may have a chance here. This can make Hayama avoid me and not bother me anymore. I just have to destroy these two people's relationship. Now I don't hurt someone without reason but sorry Katsumi-san. You have to be sacrificed for Komachi's sake. And your intentions are not good too but that's secondary.

I don't care about the consequences as long as it eases my work. I wasted enough of my time here. No longer will I suffer because of this girl. If she hates me for this then better for me.

"Katsumi-san, right?" I asked her.

"Yeah. I am sorry but I didn't recognize you." She said in her innocent voice.

"Hayama-san has some work with me, so we would like if you could get lost from here." I said.

Katsumi-san's expressions changed to that of anger.

"Excuse me?" She said to me.

"What? Didn't you hear me? Get lost!" I said again.

"Who are you? Whatever. I don't bother with creeps. I have business here with Hiyori-chan and not you, so shut up." She told me angrily.

"Hikigaya! What are you-?" Hayama-san said but I cut her off. She was looking at me with a confused face.

"It's funny you would use a word like creep being a bitch yourself." I said. This was the final push.

"Now listen here, whoever you are. Don't you dare talk to me like that." She said, completely pissed off.

"Oh, but I do dare. I know exactly what your work is with Hayama-san here. Trust me, that is so much lame." I said.

"And how would you know that? Creep. You are not at a level where you could understand me. With you having no friends at all. I could understand. People must be really disgusted of you. You have my sympathies." She said with a smirk. My turn, miss.

"And yet you are the one begging for the attention of Hayama-san. While I am the guy she trusts and is not afraid to rely on. I know you want to drag Hayama san with you for reasons other than what you really are saying. Hayama-san is the most popular girl in the school. So by acting nice, you intend to gain her attention and increase your social status in this school. Your reasons for giving her a treat make it clear what you really want."

Till this time, Hayama's focus was on me. Katsumi-san was looking at me. Fear was evident on her face.

"What are-" I cut Katsumi off.

"No wonder you are still here because you still want to save your image before Hayama-san. But it's meaningless. Your reluctance to admit these things must come with a justification for your behavior which, I bet, you don't really have."

I saw small tear forming in her eyes. She took a step back.

"Who are you and what are you saying? Don't you act like you know me?" She said. Hayama-san was still staring at me with disbelief.

"So, if you really want to continue your nice girl act before her, please do it some other time. I have to do my work here. I am sure I don't have to reveal more of your disgusting attitude in front of your idol right? So, if you will." I finished and did a hand gesture for her indicating her to go.

By now she was fully in tears. She was rubbing her eyes and sobbing. She was sniffling but before any of us could say anything. She dropped the book and left. Hayama san was still there.

SLAP!

A sudden impact of Hayama's hand woke me up from my dazed state. She was holding my collar. She was more enraged now. I could see in her eyes. She jerked me and I went a little backward. I felt a stinging sensation on my cheek. I was still looking at her with indifferent eyes. I did not get angry. It was futile. It was not me she wanted to hurt. I knew it clearly. She had no reason for slapping me if that girl really was her friend. But by her previous interactions with Hayama-san, I deduced, she was not really her friend.

"Who do you think you are huh? You think you are some kind of hero now that you have done this? Yeah I wanted her to keep away but you had no right to hurt someone like that? She will now hate you. By falling in her eyes and gaining her hatred doesn't mean anything. You are disgusting." She said and then turned.

With the same indifferent and cold expression I said,

"Why do you care? It was not like she was your friend or something!"

Her eyes widened and she realized there was nothing else she could say to counter me. She gritted her teeth and stood at the place as if she was frozen. Unable to retort, she started running in the direction I was facing towards. I was seeing her running while battling a strange emotion she had been trapping inside of which I didn't have any idea.

Being considerate for someone else's feelings? Sorry but that is just not me. I was a loner before this if you don't consider the time gap. I know how people feel and react at certain situations. I can make out the real emotions hidden behind their facade. They are just fakers. Hiding behind a mask and seeing the world. They try to blend in with others but inside they know it. They know it fully well. Who is the real person inside? I am not one of them neither do I intend to become.

Pushing everything to the back of my mind, I took my bag and returned to the classroom. Now it is this late so it would be good to wait for Komachi. Well, at least Hayama won't bother me again.

Suddenly the door slid open and I saw sensei standing at the door.

"Hikigaya-kun.? I presumed you went home." He said.

Yeah, at this time I should have been at home. But things happen.

"I was waiting for Komachi." I told him. He sensed the hesitation in me and asked,

"Again, Hikigaya-kun. You have to talk. No one could help you if you won't allow them to." He said.

Now that I think about it, Sensei can actually help me with this thing. I decided to ask him.

"Sensei, I wanted to ask you. What is wrong with Hayama-san?"

"What do you mean, Hikigaya-kun? Hayama is the most brilliant student in the school. You can say she is the ace of this school and no doubt she will be this year's valedictorian. No one could compete against her." He finished.

"That was not what I meant. What's up with her social life?" I asked.

After hearing this, he calmed himself and again plastered that irritating smile on his face.

"Her social life, huh? That's something complicated you have asked me. Being her friend, do you really want to know?" He said.

Her friend? No. I am far from that. But for now, pretending like that won't hurt. I want to get answers.

"Yeah I do. Do you know something?" I asked.

"I don't know everything but whatever I know, I will tell you." He said.

I nodded. I was staring at him curiously. It was the time I could get answers.

"Well, when I first took her as my student, her parents told me a story of her past. She was talented from her childhood, a gifted genius. So, her skills attracted a lot of admirers which she was confused if she could call them as her friends. But she decided to trust them. Whenever her group was given any task, she would perform outstandingly for which she received praises from her "friends". But sometimes she made mistakes, she was clumsy. That's where the problem started. If she did any mistake and her group suffered due to that, she wasn't blamed. But the blame was shifted to someone else in the group. For a while she thought it was okay if she was not blamed. But everything changed one day."

I was listening to Sensei. What he said till now was okay. It was normal. Just where did the problem start?

"She became friend with a girl in her middle school. They were best of friends. At no time they could be seen separate. That girl didn't see Hayama as someone different. She thought of Hayama as any other girl. Hayama was also happy for having finally gained a friend who could understand her. Naturally, they signed up for the events together so they got selected together. But again when this time, unfortunately Hayama made a blunder for which she wasn't blamed but this time, the object for their target was Hayama's friend. Hayama was unable to say anything in defense of her. She didn't know what to do. That girl then stopped talking or hanging out with her. I don't know what happened with them in detail. I heard after that incident, the whole school treated that girl differently. Teenagers are really cruel right? That's what I know, Hikigaya-kun. After that, Hayama's cheerful and friendly attitude changed to that of cold and demeaning. She didn't care much about the people around or so it seems." Sensei finished

I couldn't believe my ears. Hayama-san hid such a trauma behind her strong exterior. That was why she didn't make me participate in the decision making discussions, she wanted to save me.

"But still Hikigaya-kun, no one wants to be alone. Her dragging you along with her is the proof of that. You don't know anyone here. She thinks of you as an escape route from her loneliness. That is what I think."

So after all, she just wants me to be with her. And what did I do?

 **A/N: Hello guys. How have you been? I was going through an illness called laziness. It is a strange illness where an unknown force makes you not do the things you have to do. It is a very dangerous situation. Actually, at one point I tried to give up on this story but then I saw the follows. It reached up to 100. That's an excellent development. Thank you for your support. I promise next chapter will be soon. Reviews are appreciated. Both good and bad. Remember to review. Your feedback helps me improve things. Thanks. Silver storm out**

 **So, this is my second time posting this chapter. I hope this is error free because last time it was really bad. Sorry for the inconvenience. I promise a little faster updates from now on and less rushed chapters too. Some of the replies to the reviews.**

 **.zwei.: Thanks for pointing out my stupid grammar mistakes. This realized my mistake of posting the chapters without reading them correctly. I am glad you liked the plot. I made some modifications in the repost. I hope I removed all the errors, though I would like if you can point out some major errors which stand out too much.**

 **Jam99cho: Yeah, actually that part was just to create more drama and nothing else. It isn't going to serve any more purpose. If you want you can assume something else and read this story and if you still don't want to read it, thanks for sticking up with it until now. I am happy that you want to read my other stories which I would write, though I don't know how much time they would take.**

 **Rufess: Wow, I think you were the one most desperately waiting for the update. Thanks for your support. I didn't write reply to your review first because I thought I didn't need to. Well, your reply is good and among some negative review your positive reply motivates me to keep on going, Thanks again.**

 **Guys, please give your feedback for improvisation. I can't improve if I don't know what you think of the story.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu. It belongs to the brilliant author Wataru Watari that brought this amazing piece of literature to us.**

 **Author's Note: I re uploaded the last chapter and added some extra content way back. You can see it in the summary. So, proceed only when you have re-read it. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for putting up with this story.**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Emotions are so subtle**

Silence filled the corridor as I was passing through it. Normally, I would ask myself why I was still at school even though it was over. It's been two hours since the final bell had rung. The corridor was empty. I hoped I would find no one here. Well, I was searching for someone. And my first guess was her classroom.

I assumed she would still be at school. Earlier today when I pulled off my not-so-honorable stunt, she ran off somewhere. I didn't bother to follow her. I thought I would forget about her. It's all sensei's fault. He shouldn't have told me about her past. Thinking of it, I was the one who asked him about her in the first place. I wasn't exactly feeling guilty. Actually, I don't know how I was feeling. For some reasons, I just wanted to talk to her about what happened earlier. I couldn't conclude her feelings. I wasn't able to recognize the emotion she was hiding behind her expression when I saw her going away. I thought if I lose my connection I had with the world, I could know what people really wanted. What the difference between their expression and their emotion really was! I learned way back long that people aren't what they show but they never show who they really are! Was that the reason I couldn't understand her feelings?

I reached the classroom which she belonged to. It's the first place I thought to search for her. I slid the door open. As I entered the room, I saw her. Standing near the window, she was looking outside. Her palms were resting on the window frame. I could see her golden hair waving enticingly at slow pace. She was standing still staring at the orange hued sky with a glimmer of yellow complimenting the chromaticity of her hair. Maybe thinking about something or just staring at the horizon. I couldn't exactly conjecture. It seemed she didn't hear the door opening as she didn't disturb her demeanor.

I moved ahead to reach her. With each step I thought I was closing the distance between this egoist girl and myself. I don't get to judge her. I am a misanthrope myself. I had just walked a little distance when I heard her speak.

"Hikigaya?" She said. I stopped in my tracks. She took her hands off the frame and placed them on either of her side. Slowly, she moved as her face and front replacing her waving threads and her back in my field of vision. The glass sliding on the windowsill reflected a quiet and austere light in the muzzy, distorted state of my sight and mind. The relentless emotions swirling in my being left me unable to speak anything. I felt a surge of nervousness and embarrassment rising inside me. Why should I talk to her? Have I wronged her? I was nervous because of the guilt, embarrassed due to my obnoxious behavior. I felt I had to do it because of this girl's unpleasant behavior. I thought I could show her what the people around her really mean.

The luminosity of the evening light was replaced and blocked at some parts and transpired through others. The torrent of emotions in my mind conformed some more after I saw the expression on her solemn face. A despondent smile strewed over her visage. Unknowingly, suddenly my guilt burdened me. I felt so heavy that I was afraid I would get buried in the ground carrying it. Her beauty lost its light. Her emotions seemed like they just found a way out of an incredible maze, but it seemed their destination wasn't what they expected.

In her current dejected disposition, I found myself for the first time appreciating her innate beauty. As her lips parted to speak, her oval face matched the raging crimson in her eyes. Her eyelids, partly opened, revealed the red pearl in her then partially incarnadine sclera, probably due to tears as her cheeks were stained dry. Allowing her snub nose to redden, her grief briefly evident on her light rosy lips. Her usually fair complexion morphed florid indicating her sunk temperament.

"Were you looking for me, Hikigaya?", she said in a toneless voice. Devoid of any emotion, her smile betrayed the dilemna of her heart.

I said nothing. Rather, I didn't know what to say. I maneuvered to take a seat nearest to where she was standing.

"You didn't answer. Is something the matter?" She said again in a confused tone. This was the first time I could predict her emotion just because she didn't mask it. There she was, standing, without her pride and imperiousness, showing the emotions of a normal girl, who she was, she wanted to be or she thought she could be. Not getting an answer, she tried to speak again but stopped as she saw me staring at her.

I averted my eyes, still not speaking a word. Eventually, she was the one who broke the ice.

"Such confessions aren't unusual for me. They are just one of many which you regrettably witnessed."

"Whose regret?" I asked.

She looked at me, a little surprised, as I said something for the first time since I came.

"I answered your question regarding your earlier altercations." ,she pointed out our argument from a few hours earlier.

"Well, that was only my discontent with you manifested at the wrong time, wrong place and wrong reason."

"That isn't making me feel better Hikigaya." Her smile amplified.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel better."I said as my eyes held its stare downcast.

"Then why are you here?" she asked, her posture the same but her face turning to look outside again.

"I don't know it myself. I just felt a heavy burden, a guilt which I thought I could get rid of if I." I stopped in between, not quite sure how to tell it.

"If you what?" She questioned my sudden interruption. I rose my head to look at her. She had her eyes staring at me almost in pity without taking off the glint of melancholy.

Contrasting her previous emotions, she said in a mild irritation to my surprise ,"If you spoke with me. Is that it?"

I didn't answer as I was thinking about what I wanted to say. But the worst fact was that I couldn't differentiate my actions as something bad. The discernible behavior was no longer perceptible but it was enough to feel guilt as it was evincing its bitter consequence before me.

"And how am I supposed to help you? The last time I checked you prefer to be alone with this self-reliant attitude of yours."

"Not unlike yours, if I may add." I retorted but she remained disinterested.

"You were right about her" she spoke referring to Katsumi or whatever that girl's name was. I was right about her? I knew. That was the whole point of that farce. Relationships suffer once you unmask the very truth that established it. Was she assuming I did whatever I did to hurt her? I am a jerk who enjoys the suffering of pretentious social individuals but never once I inflicted it for that reason.

"But" She started, then paused. I raised my head to look at her. She shifted her gaze again to the twilight scenery. Without disturbing her gaze, she slightly smoothened her waist length hair and simultaneously reached her ear to sway some strands behind it revealing her auditory shell.

"But what?" I urged her to continue. I was ready to hear her reprimands about me but what I really heard hurt me more than that. Maybe I was looking for her anger, her accusations, her blame that she would throw at me. Maybe I thought it would give me some relief. I couldn't know as I wasn't on the receiving end of her emotional fit.

"But I knew that already. Or I assumed that everyone was like that. I don't know. I am not good with people. The only way I know how to behave with them is how you witnessed." I saw her hands were back on the windowsill. She was clenching her fists.

"When I saw you, Hikigaya. I assumed you too were one of them. I still don't know if you're not. But I don't know, if what I saw of you was all of it. Or there was something else. I spent time with you, but initially I supposed you would try to get along with people who you will be spending your rest of the year with. You didn't. I thought you would enjoy your time with me." She chuckled at that but it soon faded away.

"I didn't. Well, rest of the boys would, considering they admire and adore you so much." I finished her sentence.

"No you didn't. Then I realized or I thought I realized that you were the same as me who suffered in the past. So, instantly I inferred you were like me. I thought that maybe you and I can be"

"Friends?" I interrupted her again.

"No, not in the least. Not friends." She smirked.

"How did you even get that idea? That's disgusting."

I grimaced at her words. Be a little subtle, will ya? My little heart would tear apart into several pieces if you continue your assaults. But that was only for a moment.

"I thought that maybe just maybe you could understand me." Her lips formed a small smile.

"And you wanted to be close with me?" I said.

"Sorry, but I am not that kind of person." I continued.

"No you aren't. And you made it pretty clear. I just wanted to try it. Try to be like them. Even though what they have is full of lies and is hollow. But they seem to enjoy it." She said.

No. It's wrong. She isn't like me. We both went through rough time indeed. I learned of the ways of society way back and I hated it. She witnessed the same. But she kept believing in them hoping to understand them. She thought that maybe one day she could be like them. Or if she couldn't, she hoped that she would find her own place in the society. But that's a load of bullshit. People try to understand each other but once they do they realize the flaws and slowly become disgusted with their idol. Belief only exists until you don't scrutinize your idol.

"Hey, Hikigaya. Tell me. Have you ever been close with someone? Was there ever a relationship you wished to protect? A bond that you wanted to remain intact even if you knew the only way for it to exist is through a lie?" She asked me. Her eyes were slowly dampening but only a little. Maybe she recalled any painful memory. I already knew about her past and the way she is talking I guess she knows I know it as well.

"As long as I can remember, the only thing that existed between me and others is the bond of deceit and disgust. I never had anything of the kind you asked." I responded sternly.

She chuckled dryly at my response. Lost again in the red yellow twilight, she continued to deeply process her thoughts. As if taking it as a cue, I started talking again.

"Hiyori-san. I know what happened with you in the past and why your attitude changed towards the society. But now the way I have known you, I know you are desperately trying to show everyone or at least someone that you are not the person who they think you are."I spoke.

"And what do you know? Who am I?" She turned towards me now in a full way with a stern expression which showed her determination and willingness to not turn away again. Only for a moment I caught a glimpse of the concrete exterior that she showed everyone till now. But that too vanished in thin air. Her glassy eyes reflecting her confusion and the crimson iris losing its meaning. Her bangs overshadowed her forehead while her corrugated drill locks swayed and steadied instantly. Staring right at me, her face softened and her brows relaxed at once.

"I am just saying that if you want to be close with someone, you will have to lower the barrier surrounding you too, Getting to know someone is not enough. It is equally important that they know you too." She slowly lowered her head and raised it again.

"Then will you give me a chance, Hikigaya?" I was confused. A chance for what? What was she saying?

"I am sorry?" I said. My ambiguity evident.

"I asked if you would give me a chance again. We could start again. Now you know things about me. And I pretty much know many things about you too so it could be difficult but I think it could work." She said with a little delight on her face. Her eyes were showing pain a few moments ago but now they were being overhauled with buoyancy.

"I meant it with other people. Not me. No good will come out of socializing with me."I spoke out.

"That's why I think you would be a good start." She smiled. For the first time that day or rather the first time since I met her, her smile was glowing and full of genuine emotions.

"Troublesome girl." I said and chuckled lightly.

"Final question, Hayama. When you threatened me to do your work, did you mean it when you said you would destroy Komachi's social life in school?" I asked with a little anger building up inside of me. I stared at her with bitterness.

Her lips parted and her eyes widened. But a moment later her expression returned to normal, when she closed her eyes for a while with a light smile on her face and looked back at me.

"Komachi is my junior and I spent a semester with her. It's unlikely that an unruly animal like you have such a sweet sister. No, I didn't mean it. I wouldn't have done it despite your refusal."

I sighed in relief.

"Thank you. I thought you would seriously hurt someone innocent to get your work done." I said.

"Sometimes I am forced to use such underhanded tricks to maintain my attitude, you know. Especially when I come across a non-complying person like you which is extremely rare. It felt good to play a villain for some time. Komachi mentioned your over protective attitude towards her" She gave me a heartfelt smile.

"So you are all bark and no bite?" I asked.

As if a little provoked with my question, she answered,

"Yeah, all bark and no bite. But if you wanna see my bite just say so."

I gulped. Thinking it is probably not a good idea to stimulate more strings of anger in her, I said

"Well then, it's getting late I should get going." And proceeded to pick my bag.

"Yeah I guess. Thank you for today, Hikigaya."

"Are you sure that's the word you want to use?"

"Don't make me take it back. I have to wait here for some time. Thanks to you now my work got delayed." She retorted.

"Bye." I said. My bag was fairly light as I didn't need to bring many books today. It's fabric rubbed against my own coat as I hauled it over my shoulder and pushed the chair a little back. I made my way out of the dimly lit room as I contemplated the million thoughts running rampant in my mind. With a confused mind and ignored exhaustion, I stepped out of the room and slid the door behind me not paying any attention to the lonely girl I left in the classroom who was still there trying to unwind her own predicament.

Komachi must have already gone off without me. Well that leaves me with myself. Just like the old times. I reached for my bike and started to make my way home.

Today was a tiring day. After what I had been suffering for past few days, I messed up today. But that did something good. Not only for me but for her too. First with that-

That's when it hit me. Things that happened weren't exactly making sense. I had this sinking feeling ever since I insulted her that I wasn't in my character when I did that. I know myself and as far as I can remember, I never did something like that. The conversation with that girl who was trying to befriend Hayama, I never did something like that before. Not with anyone in middle school. Not before that. I never disgraced or insulted someone like that. I knew myself very well. I wasn't like that. She threatened Komachi's social life but I somehow knew she wasn't going to do such thing. I made that girl cry because of my selfishness. I know I am selfish but to do something like that? Then what changed? Is that what my true self is? No. It couldn't be. I was wrong. It was clearly my fault there. I had no right to interfere in someone else's personal life. Much less when I barely knew her. Desperately recalling my past experiences to determine the reason for my behavior. That wasn't a great flashback by the way. I only recalled my misery and stupidity in my previous school.

As I was scrolling through my memory, I started to sink more in my thoughts. A blurry screen came over my eyes making the front image unclear and I momentarily started to lose control of my bicycle. In a state of mild consciousness I lost my control and crashed on the side wall of the lane.

Dispersing in my head, a sharp pain took over my head. The pain was intense enough for me to lose the structure of my surroundings. As a result, I desperately tried to overcome my shortcoming. I began to turn my head or at least tried to but to no avail. I couldn't tell if I was actually moving or not, if I was still or falling dismissively. A blinding blackness came over my eyes. Everything was dark and I had no idea what was happening. I couldn't even tell if my eyelids were open or closed. Whether this regime of darkness was real or just another side effect of my brain impairment. In this garbled state of my mind, I experienced a sudden lark. My vision was slowly becoming clear but the distortion was still there. Not in a perfect sense and not colorful too, but I saw flashes of images and then after sometime there was a steady motion. I saw a woman, probably in her mid or late twenties. Her dark ebony hair waving behind her graciously and her visage was filled with unknown dejection. As it progressed, I saw her hugging me in a moment and at the same time, she had tears in her eyes. The image was distorted but I could make out the surroundings. It was the very place that I had just crashed. Then in her disconsolate state I heard her speak.

" _Hikigaya-kun, I... I am sorry. But I never wanted to hurt you. Please keep this in mind."_ Sobbing she continued _," After what has happened and what is going to happen, I am really feeling grateful for getting a chance to speak to you. When we meet in the future, please just please remember that I never held any ill will for you in my heart. I have always-"_ The image became distorted again. The scariest part was that I felt like I was viewing it in third person.

The next moment I knew was that I was leaning on the wall and immediately I was gasping for air. But on the second breath I realized that I was not choking. Next thing I noticed was my bicycle resting on the ground as it should be after a crash. The scene that I just witnessed in my blind conscious was slowly fading away and a second later I just recalled that I saw a conversation with someone. No details or anything remained in my memory. It cleared like a messed up screen wiped out of its contents. But unknowingly I had no desire to chase the fleeting memory. Confused of my discordant memory, I decided to give it a rest. I took out my cell phone to check the time. And when I noticed it, that was the first surprise I got from that dim memory. I usually calculate the time to arrive this area as not more than 15-16 minutes at my normal pace. And considering I checked the time before leaving school, the time passed was the same. It was barely past 15 minutes. My eyes widened and my being afraid of the fact that the blurred memory and my state of unconsciousness which I conjectured to be at least more than 20 minutes, was not more than a few fleeting seconds.

Luckily enough I wasn't riding fast and there were no pedestrian around, so I tried to set straight and back myself up. I groaned as I tried to stand up. Aside from a few scratches and some dirt around my jacket, I wasn't feeling any more injury. What did I expect from a bike crash? Taking a look at my bike laying beside me, I noticed no significant damage to it. I went over it, picked it up and decided to continue my way by foot. Chuckling at my stupidity, I decided to not pay attention to the fall and the blurred episode. I was mostly close to my home when I started thinking about my crash. I realized it was one of my focus setback that I have been experiencing since- Wait a second. When I was recalling my memories I didn't account for the 3 years blank period that Komachi told me about.

Realization came to me afterwards. The blank period. Did it have some part in this? Did something happen then that made me like this? I was ready to hurt that clueless girl without even considering my reasons for doing it. So, that blank period made me a selfish jerk? But it isn't possible. I was told that I would never remember that interval of time. But this isn't a memory is it? This is a personality trait that I must have picked during that time. So, I experienced some things that made me like this. I never expected it to return back to me in such a haunting way. And all of a sudden my fleeting memory became least of my concerns. But I still didn't understand. Was that really the reason or it was something else? There was only one way to confirm. Komachi. I needed to ask her even though I promised her that I wouldn't ask any questions until she was ready to tell me. But I needed the explanation now. This "blank period" is messing with my life.

With these questions in my head and much more fear, I reached home.

"I am home" I said in a low voice.

"Welcome back, Onii-chan." I got a response from inside with insane amount of noise of probably television. Seriously this girl. She keeps wasting her time too much. Stepping inside, I removed my shoes. I walked through the living room. Deciding I would ask her after I changed myself, I went to my room.

After changing, I decided to approach Komachi. These questions were eating up my brain. I was questioning my own personality. That was the scariest part of all. At times like this, I am forced to question. Do I even know myself?

She was sitting on the couch with the remote in her hand. She took the "casual" of the word casual clothes way too seriously. Thinking about it, she is way too much "casual" at home, not only in clothes but everything. Little sisters are strange creatures. You don't feel anything by their cuteness or any such action. That sounded like a repetitive thought. Then again, with a sister like this, I don't think I must have got less annoyed by her way of living.

"Komachi." I spoke.

She was watching TV and the noise was probably of a crappy sexist game show. What's wrong with our country? Can't they make something sensible for once? She replied with a "Hn" sound. I said again."Komachi" This time a little loudly. Irritated by her lack of attention, I went ahead and snatched the remote from her. I quickly lowered the volume. Komachi, not shaken by my sudden action, raised her hand trying to reach the TV remote while whining in displeasure.

She turned her head towards me in annoyance. Her eyes showing contempt, she said,

"Onii-chan, you shouldn't take out your lack of social life in school on your little sister. Komachi always helps you in everything and you return you cute little sister's kindness like this. After all this time worrying about you, Komachi deserves better conduct than this. The last line scored me much Komachi points." She finished in a rather playful mood than she initially started. Hell, how does she pull off such behavioral transmutation? And her expressions too.

"First of all, I don't know what this "everything" you talked about is? Second, listen to people when they are talking with you."

With a gleeful smile, she shifted her focus on me. Slightly smiling, I asked her the questions that were bugging me.

"I need to ask you something."

"Yes? Ask me anything Onii-chan. Your loving and best in the world little sister will answer everything." She concluded with a small salute which clearly didn't match her demeanor. That was awkward.

"Stop acting like a military soldier. Things happened today between me and Hayama-san today. I wanted to ask you something related to that."

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened wide which she suddenly cupped with her hands.

"ONII-CHAN. I knew senpai is cute and all but you shouldn't do perverse things with girls you like. You should take it slow. I never knew you were such a pervert onii-chan. You totally forced yourself on her right? You should keep your desires under control. How will Komachi now face senpai tomorrow? Oh my God. You totally ruined Komachi's friendship with her." Komachi yelled with fake tears in her eyes. What was she thinking I did? Wait a minute. WHAT DID SHE THINK I DID?

"Hey, calm down. I did no such thing. How did you even reach such conclusion?"

"Ohh. I see. Komachi trusts her Onii-chan. He can do nothing wrong. That line scored tons of Komachi points."

"But the previous one reduced it way too much."

"Eh", she responded faking tears in her eyes once again.

Oh god, she is so carefree. A serious conversation got turned into a comedy situation. Can there be a more hilarious joke than that? Oh wait, there is. It's called "my life".

"So, then Onii-chan. What happened?" She asked.

Oh yes. I got sidetracked a little bit.

"It's actually-"

I interrupted myself abruptly. Swerving off my original line of thinking, I realized I never took into consideration my sister's feelings about this. Perhaps it is a good idea to ask but perhaps it isn't. My disparaging view of putting myself in the main stratum made me nescient of other's feelings. Have I fallen so low? In my own personality crisis, I totally forgot that Komachi was still awaiting my reply.

"Onii-chan?"

"Oh! Nothing. You know what? We sorted it out and I think there is no need to caper with something that's already fixed so drudgingly."

"Umm... Alright" She gave me a hesitant smile. She already had too much burden to wear and she refrained from talking because she was not comfortable with it. I should be ashamed of myself for even thinking of disrespecting her feelings.

"Now give me my remote back." She snatched it away from my hands rudely. Sometimes I wish she could be as considerate towards me as I am. There goes all my respect and admiration.

Leaving her alone in her blissful state, I went into my room. As the soft surface of my warm bed engulfed my tired back, my mind fell into a weird stream of thoughts. Struggling from what happened in the past few weeks till today, nothing was making sense to me. But I decided to come clear of my odd behavior in school. It needed to be answered and Komachi wasn't the only person who had them. I decided to talk to her when I will get free time. For as of now, I need to focus on the next day of school.

 **A/N: So, Hii, Nice to meet you all once again. But I think I shouldn't expect the same from you all. That was my own fault though. SO, the last year was like hell lot busy for me. I admit I slacked off for a bit too. But I didn't write anything. I read my fic again and decided to change my writing style some more as I thought whatever I wrote wasn't good enough. And for the last chapter I apologize.**

 **So, anyway. I decided to do away with useless humor coz I am not very good at it. But I will still put some bad jokes here and there to keep the characters in , well, their character. I made some difference to the storyline so, I really don't have much idea what will be next. I mean I do, but how it will occur, no idea. I decided to make this a more dark and gritty themed fic. As for the next update, don't expect it any time sooner as I believe this is a game changing year for me. Certain events will take place that will decide my future course of life. So, sorry for that. See you all till the next update. Read and review please. I need to know my mistakes.**


End file.
